The  Committee  on  Publications  of  the  Grolier  Club 
certifies  that  this  copy  of  "Bibliographical  Notes  on 
One  Hundred  Books  Famous  in  English  Literature  " 
is  one  of  three  hundred  and  five  copies  printed  on 
French  hand-made  paper,  and  three  on  vellum,  dur- 
ing the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  three. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/bibliographicalnOOgrolrich 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

ON  ONE  HUNDRED  BOOKS   FAMOUS   IN 

ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES 

ON 

ONE    HUNDRED    BOOKS 

FAMOUS  IN 

ENGLISH    LITERATURE 


COMPILED  BY 

HENRY   W.   KENT 


THE    GROLIER    CLUB 

OF    THE    CITY    OF    NEW  YORK 

MCMIII 


Copyright,  1903,  by 

The  Grolier  Club  of  the 

City  of  New  York 


PREFACE 


Jfter  the  publication  of  the  vol- 
ume entitled  One  Hundred  Books 
Famous  in  English  Literature 
with  Facsimiles  of  the  Title- 
pages  and  an  Introduction  by 
George  E.  Woodberry,  the  books 
themselves  were  gathered  from 
the  collections  of  members  of  the 
Club  for  an  exhibition  at  the  Club-house.  All  of  these 
volumes  belonged  to  the  first  published  editions,  except 
where  copies  of  the  earliest  editions  were  not  obtain- 
able, or,  for  some  reason,  were  not  desirable.  In  two 
cases,  those  of  "Tottel's  Miscellany"  and  Lyly's  Euphues, 
copies  of  the  first  editions  are  unique,  and,  therefore, 
practically  not  obtainable.  The  second  edition  of  A 
Myrrour  For  Magistrates  contains  the  first  issue  of  the 
poem  called  an  Induction  by  the  Earl  of  Dorset,  and 
was,  therefore,  the  edition  which  it  was  desirable  to 
show.  Notwithstanding  the  oft-repeated  statement  that 
copies  of  the  second  edition  of  Bacon's  Essays  are  of 


viii  PREFACE 

greater  rarity  than  those  of  the  first,  no  copy  of  the 
first  edition  was  forthcoming,  and  one  of  the  later  date 
was  necessarily  included  in  the  collection.  In  one  or 
two  instances  a  second  issue  of  a  first  edition  was  used 
where  the  extremely  rare  first  issue  was  not  owned  by  a 
member  of  the  Club. 

Arranged  side  by  side,  each  volume  open  at  its 
title-page,  the  individuality  of  these  well-known  works 
was  brought  out  strikingly :  taken  collectively,  they 
illustrated,  clearly  and  interestingly,  the  development 
of  the  Book  in  England.  Members  of  the  Club  were 
thus  led  to  suggest  the  publication  of  a  second,  or 
supplementary  volume,  which  should  give  the  biblio- 
graphical facts  connected  with  each  book,  and  which 
should  indicate,  briefly,  something  of  this  development. 
The  present  volume  was  undertaken  in  response  to  this 
suggestion. 

The  relations  of  author  with  printer  or  publisher,  the 
success  or  failure  of  the  books,  matters  of  illustration, 
and  marked  peculiarities  of  editions,  issues  or  volumes — 
all  these  things  are  referred  to  at  greater  or  less  length. 
In  some  cases,  the  facts  have  been  given  with  fullness; 
but  in  others,  like  that  of  the  Shakespeare  First  Folio, 
about  which  so  much  has  been  written,  it  was  thought 
unnecessary  to  enter  into  details.  Many  of  the  books 
in  the  list  having  been  already  the  subjects  of  whole 
bibliographies,  or,  having  been  carefully  collated  in  other 
works,  full  collations  have  not  been  thought  desirable 
here.  It  should  be  noted,  in  this  connection,  that  the 
collations  of  books  printed  before  the  eighteenth  century 
are  given  by  signatures,  while  of  books  published  after 
1700,  the  paginations  are  given.  Works  of  more  than 
two  volumes  have  not  been  collated  in  detail. 


CONTENTS 


TITLE                                                     AUTHOR  DATE  PAGE 

The  Canterbury  Tales Chaucer     ....  1478  .     3 

Confeffio  Amantis Gower 1483  .      5 

Le  Morte  Darthur Malory 1485  .      7 

The  Booke  of  the  Common  Praier 1549  .     9 

The  Vision  of  Pierce  Plowman Lan gland  .    .    .    .  1550  .    12 

Chronicles  of  England  Scotlande,  and  Ire- 

lande Holinshed      .    .    .  1577 

Baldwin,  Sack-  ) 


15 

22 


AMyrrourForMagiftrates |  ^He^rnd oTer^  J      ^^63 

Songes  And  Sonettes Howard      ....    1567 

The  Tragidie  of  Ferrex  and  Porrex    .    .     j  ^SackviUe^  [    ■    t^57°'']  ^4 

Euphues Lyly 1581    .  26 

The  Countesse  Of  Pembrokes  Arcadia  .    .    Sidney 1590   .  29 

The  Faerie  Queene Spenser     ....    1590  .  32 

Effaies Bacon 1598   .  34 

The  Principal  Navigations,  Voiages,  Traf- 
fiques  And  Discoueries  of  the  Englifh 
Nation Hakluyt     ....    1598   .   36 

The  Whole  Works  Of  Homer Chapman  ...     [  n.  d.  ]     40 

The  Holy  Bible 44 

The  Workes Jonson   .    . 

The  Anatomy  Of  Melancholy Burton   .    . 

Comedies,  Histories,  &  Tragedies   ....  Shakespeare 

The  Tragedy  of  The  Dutchesse  of  Malfy  .  Webster 

A  New  Way  To  Pay  Old  Debts Massinger 


I6I6 

48 

I62I 

51 

1623 

53 

1623 

56 

^^2,2, 

57 

CONTENTS 


The  Broken  Heart Ford 


The  Famous  Tragedy  of  The  Rich  lew  Of 

Malta Marlowe 

The  Temple Herbert 

Poems Donne 

Religio  Medici Browne 

The  Workes Waller 

i-        J-      A    J  T        J-  ( Beaumont  and 

Comedies  And  Tragedies <        Fl  t  h 

Hesperides Herrick 

The  Rule  And  Exercises  Of  Holy  Living  .  Taylor 

The  Compleat  Angler Walton 

Hudibras Butler  . 

Paradife  loft Milton 

The  Pilgrims  Progrefs Bunyan 

Absalom  And  Achitophel Dryden 

An    Essay    Concerning    Humane   Under- 
standing        Locke  .    . 

The  Way  of  the  World Congreve 

The  History  Of  The  Rebellion  and  Civil 

Wars  In  England      Clarendon 

The  Tatler      

The  Spectator 

The  Life  And  Strange  Surprizing  Adven- 
tures Of  Robinson  Crusoe Defoe   .    . 

Travels  Into  Several    Remote  Nations  Of 

The  World Swift     .    . 


DATE 

PAGE 

1633 

58 

1633 

59 

1633 

60 

1633 

62 

1642 

65 

1645 

67 

1647 

69 

1648 

72 

1650 

74 

1653 

75 

1663 

77 

1667 

79 

1678 

82 

168 1 

84 

1690 

86 

1700 

88 

1702 

89 

I7IO 

9» 

I7II 

94 

An  Essay  On  Man Pope     .    . 

The  Analogy  Of  Religion Butler  .    . 

Reliques  Of  Ancient  English  Poetry   .    .    .  Percy  .    . 

Odes Collins 

Clarissa Richardson 


1719  97 

1726  .     99 

[1733]  102 

1736  104 

1765  .    105 

1747  .  109 

1748  .  no 


CONTENTS 


XI 


The  History  Of  Tom  Jones Fielding 


An  Elegy  Wrote  In  A  Country  Church 
Yard 

A  Dictionary  Of  The  English  Language   . 

Poor  Richard   improved      

Commentaries  On  The  Laws  Of  England  . 

The  Vicar  Of  Wakefield      


A  Sentimental  Journey  Through  France 
And  Italy 

The  Federalist 

The  Expedition  Of  Humphry  Clinker   .    . 

An  Inquiry  Into  The  Nature  and  Caufes 
Of  The  Wealth  Of  Nations      

The  History  Of  The  Decline  And  Fall  Of 
The  Roman  Empire 

The  School  For  Scandal 

The  Task 

Poems 

The  Natural  History  And  Antiquities  Of 
Selborne 

Reflections  On  The  Revolution  In  France 

Rights  Of  Man      

The  Life  Of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.     .    . 

Lyrical  Ballads       < 

A  History  Of  New  York  ...  by  Diedrich 
Knickerbocker 

Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage      

Pride  And  Prejudice 

Christabel  Kubla  Khan,  A  Vision ;    The 
Pains  Of  Sleep 

Ivanhoe  


Gray  .  . 
Johnson  . 
Franklin  . 
Blackstone 
Goldsmith 

Sterne  .    . 


1749 

1751 

1755 
1758 
1765 
1766 


.    .    .    1768 

1788 

Smollett  .    .    .    .    1 77 1 


PAGE 
112 

114 
117 
119 
121 
123 

126 
128 
130 


Smith 1776   .    132 


Gibbon 
Sheridan 
Cowper 
Burns   . 


•  1776 
[n.d.] 

•  1785 
.    1786 


White 1789 

Burke 1790 

Paine 1791 


Boswell    .    . 

Wordsworth 
and  Coleridge 


1791 


}      1798 


Irving 1809 

Byron 1812 

Austen     .    .    .    .  18 13 

Coleridge     .    .    .  18 16 

Scott 1820 


133 
136 

^37 
141 

143 
146 

147 
150 

153 

155 
157 
161 

163 
16s 


xii  CONTENTS 

TITLE  AUTHOR 

Lamia,  Isabella,  The  Eve  Of  St.  Agnes,  And 

Other  Poems       Keats   . 

Adonais Shelley 

Elia Lamb  . 

Memoirs Pepys  . 

The  Last  Of  The  Mohicans Cooper 

Pericles  And  Aspasia Landor 

The  Posthumous  Papers  Of  The  Pickwick 

Club Dickens 

Sartor  Resartus Carlyle 

Nature Emerson 

History  Of  The  Conquest  Of  Peru      .    .    .  Prescott 

The  Raven  And  Other  Poems Poe  .    . 

Jane  Eyre Bronte 

Evangeline Longfellow 

Sonnets Mrs.  Browning 

Meliboeus-Hipponax Lowell 

Vanity  Fair Thackeray 

The  History  Of  England Macaulay 

In  Memoriam  Tennyson 

The  Scarlet  Letter Hawthorne 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin Mrs.  Stowe 

The  Stones  of  Venice Ruskin     .    . 

Men  And  Women Browning 

The  Rise  Of  The  Dutch  Republic  ....  Motley     .    . 

Adam  Bede George  Eliot 

On  The  Origin  Of  Species Darwin    . 

Rubdiydt  of  Omar  Khayyim Fitzgerald 

Apologia  Pro  Vita  Sua Newman 

Essays  In  Criticism Arnold 

Snow-Bound Whittier  . 


DATE   PAGE 


820 
821 
823 

825 
826 
836 

837 
834 
836 
847 
845 
847 
847 
847 
848 
848 
849 

850 
850 
852 

851 
855 

856 

859 
859 

859 
864 
865 

866 


167 
169 
171 

173 
175 
177 

180 

183 
186 
187 
189 
191 
192 

193 
194 
196 
199 
201 
202 
204 
205 
208 
209 
211 
213 
216 
217 
218 
219 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES 

ON 

ONE  HUNDRED  BOOKS 

FAMOUS  IN 

ENGLISH    LITERATURE 


¥ 


GEOFFREY   CHAUCER 

(1340?  — 1400) 

I.  [The  Canterbury  Tales.       Printed  at  Westminster  by 
William  Caxton,  about  1478.] 

The  text  begins  with  the  first  line  of  the  book,  and  there  is  no 
prefatory  note  or  colophon,  to  give  a  clue  to  the  name  of  the  work, 
its  place  of  publication,  its  printer,  or  the  date  of  its  production.  The 
date  and  the  name  of  the  printer,  however,  are  determined  by  the 
type,  which  is  a  font  used  by  Caxton  in  books  printed  at  Westmin- 
ster between  the  years  1475  and  1481.  This  type,  known  as  Type 
No.  2,  because  it  was  the  second  employed  by  him  (the  first  used  for 
printing  books  in  England),  is  like  the  characters  in  manuscripts 
written  in  Bruges  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  called  "Gros  Batarde." 
Colard  Mansion,  the  earliest  printer  of  Bruges,  used  a  font  of  similar 
style,  and  Caxton  probably  formed  his  type  on  the  same  models,  if, 
indeed,  he  did  not  procure  it  from  Mansion  himself,  with  whom  he 
learned  the  new  art  of  printing.  But  we  may  also  identify  oiu*  printer 
by  means  of  his  own  statement  made  in  the  signed  "  Prohemye  "  to 
the  second  edition  of  the  work,  printed  in  1484  (?),  where,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  pure  text,  he  makes  an  interesting 
criticism  of  this,  the  first  edition.     He  says : 

"  For  I  fynde  many  of  the  sayd  bookes,  whyche  wry-  |  ters  haue 
abrydgyd  it  and  many  thynges  left  out.  And  in  |  some  place  haue  sette 
certayn  versys,  that  he  neuer  made  ne  sette  |  in  hys  booke,  of  whyche 
bookes  so  incorrecte  was  one  brought  to  me  vj  yere  passyd,  whyche  I 
supposed  had  ben  veray  true  &  cor-  |  recte.  And  accordyne  to  the 
same  I  dyde  do  enprynte  a  certayn  |  nombre  of  them,  whyche  anon 
were  sold  to  many  and  dyuerse  |  gentyl  men,  of  whome  one  gentylman 
cam  to  me,  and  said  that  |  this  book  was  not  accordyn  in  many  places 
vnto  the  book  that  |  Geflferey  chancer  had  made,  To  whom  I  answerd 


4  GEOFFREY  CHAUCER 

that  I  had  ma-  |  de  it  accordyng  to  my  copye,  and  by  me  was  nothyng 
added  ne  |  mynusshyd." 

According  to  the  arrangement  of  Wilham  Blades,  this  is  the  tenth 
work  of  England's  first  printer,  and  the  fifth  printed  on  English  soil. 
It  was  printed  after  his  return  from  Bruges,  whither  he  had  gone  as  a 
mercer,  and  where  he  turned  printer  and  editor.  Few  of  the  books 
from  his  press  exceed  it  in  size  and  beauty.  Nine  copies  known; 
two  are  in  the  British  Museum,  one  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford, 
one  in  Merton  College,  Oxford,  and  five  in  private  libraries.  Of  all 
these  only  two  are  in  perfect  condition. 

The  volume  has  no  signatures,  folios  or  catchwords,  and  the  lines 
are  unevenly  spaced.  The  rubrication  of  the  initial  letters  was  done 
by  hand. 

In  the  matter  of  purity  of  text  this  edition  is  inferior  to  the  second, 
as  Caxton  himself  thus  early  recognized ;  the  manuscript  from  which 
it  was  printed,  Tyrwhitt  tells  us,  "  happened  unluckily  to  be  one  of  the 
worst  in  all  respects  that  [he]  could  possibly  have  met  with."  But 
however  that  may  be,  the  Canterbury  Tales  is  entitled  to  a  chief  place 
among  English  books  as  presenting  the  first  printed  text  of  Chaucer, 
who,  "by  hys  labour  enbelysshyd,  ornated,  and  made  faire  our 
enghsshe." 

Folio.     Black  letter. 

Collation:   371  leaves;  sixteen  of  which  are  in  facsimile. 


I 


JOHN    GOWER 

(1325?  — 1408) 

2.  This  book  is  intituled,  confef-  |  fio  amantis  /  that  is  to 
saye  |  in  englysshe  the  confeffyon  of  |  the  louer  maad 
and  compyled  by  |  Johan  Gower  squyer  borne  in 
walys  I  .  .  .  (Colophon)  Enprynted  at  Westmestre 
by.  me  |  Willyam  Caxton  and  fynyffhed  the  ij  |  day 
of  Septembre  the  fyrft  yere  of  the  |  regne  of  Kyng 
Richard  the  thyrd  /  the  yere  of  our  lord  a  thoufand  / 
CCCC  /    I  Ixxxxiij  /  (a  mistake  for  1483). 

The  text  is  a  composite  one,  being  taken  from  at  least  three  MSS. 
Manuscripts  are  extant  in  three  versions :  the  earliest  is  dedicated  to 
Richard  II,  and  contains  a  panegyric  on  Chaucer;  the  second  is 
dedicated  to  Henry  of  Lancaster,  but  the  poets  having  quarreled,  the 
paneg)aic  is  omitted;  and  the  third  is  likewise  addressed  to  Henry, 
but  with  certain  differences  in  the  work.  With  the  exception  of  these 
variations,  the  text  is  alike  in  all. 

The  type  of  the  printed  work  exhibits  two  variations  of  the  same 
characters,  and  is  called  Type  No.  4,  and  No.  4*.  It  is  the  smallest 
font  employed  by  Caxton  in  any  of  his  books,  and  the  most  used, 
thirty-one  volumes  having  been  printed  between  1480  and  1487  in 
one  or  the  other  or  in  both  variations. 

The  printer  does  not,  as  in  the  following  work,  write  a  special 
prologue  or  preface  to  the  Confessio,  but  states  all  the  facts  he  knows 
concerning  it  in  the  introductory  paragraph,  or  title,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  first  column.  The  book  has  no  catchwords  or  folios,  and 
the  signatures  are  irregularly  printed.  Seventeen  copies  were  known  to 
Blades  :  three  in  the  British  Museum ;  Cambridge,  Pembroke  College, 
Cambridge,  Hereford  Cathedral,  Lambeth  Palace  Library,  Queen's 


6  JOHN    GOWER 

College,  and  All  Souls,  Oxford,  each  having  one ;  while  eight  were 
in  private  libraries. 

The  copy  whose  title-page  is  here  shown  in  facsimile  is  one  of  five 
copies  that  are  perfect.  We  first  hear  of  it  in  the  library  of  Brian 
Fairfax,  a  Commissioner  of  Customs  in  the  i8th  century,  who  be- 
queathed it  to  his  kinsman,  Hon.  Robert  Fairfax,  afterward  seventh 
Lord  Fairfax.  Lord  Fairfax  intended  to  sell  the  collection  at  auction, 
but  eventually  sold  it  entire,  in  1756,  to  his  relative,  Francis  Child  of 
Osterley  Park,  for  two  thousand  pounds.  In  1819  the  Osterley  Park 
library  passed  into  the  family  of  the  Earl  of  Jersey,  and,  when  finally 
dispersed,  in  1885,  brought  thirteen  thousand  and  seven  pounds,  nine 
shillings. 

At  the  time  of  the  intended  auction,  in  1756,  a  catalogue  was 
printed,  but  afterward  all  but  twenty  copies  of  the  edition  were  sup- 
pressed. One  of  these  is  marked  with  the  valuation  of  each  book, 
and  shows  the  Confessio  to  have  been  held  at  three  pounds.  Eight 
hundred  and  ten  pounds  was  the  price  it  brought  at  the  sale  in  1885. 

Folio.     Black  letter.      1 2f  x  1 8-j-|  inches 
Collation  :   222  leaves ;  four  of  which  are  blank. 


SIR   THOMAS   MALORY 

(1430?— 1470?) 

(  Colophon  )  C  Thus  endeth  thys  noble  and  Joyous 
book  entytled  le  morte  |  Darthur  /  Notwythftondyng 
it  treateth  of  the  byrth  /  lyf  /  and  |  actes  of  the  fayd 
kyng  Arthur  /  of  his  noble  knyghtes  of  the  |  rounde 
table  /  .  .  .  whiche  book  was  re  |  duced  in  to  englyffhe 
by  fyr  Thomas  Malory  knyght  as  afore  |  is  fayd  /  and 
by  my  deuyded  in  to  xxj  bookes  chapytred  and  |  en- 
prynted  /  and  fynyffhed  in  thabbey  westmestre  the  last 
day  I  of  Juyl  the  yere  of  our  lord  /M/CCCC/  Ixxxv  / 
CCaxton  me  fieri  fecit. 

The  book  begins  with  a  prologue  by  Caxton  wherein  he  tells  how  he 
came  to  print  it,  presents  his  reason  for  the  belief  that  Arthur  was  an 
historical  personage,  and  relates  some  facts  with  regard  to  the  sources 
of  the  romance.     He  says : 

"  After  that  I  had  accomplysshed  and  fynysshed  dyuers  hystoryes 
as  wel  of  contemplacyon  as  of  other  hylloryal  and  worldly  actes  of 
grete  conquerours  &  prynces,  and  also  certeyn  bookes  of  ensaumples 
and  doctryne.  Many  noble  and  dyuers  gentylmen  of  thys  royame  of 
Englond  camen  and  demaunded  me  many  and  oftymes,  wherfore  that 
I  haue  not  do  made  &  enprynte  the  noble  hystorye  of  the  saynt  greal, 
and  of  the  moost  renomed  crysten  Kyng,  .  .  .  kyng  Arthur  .  .  . 

Thene  al  these  thynges  forsayd  aledged  J  coude  not  wel  denye, 
but  that  there  was  suche  a  noble  kyng  named  arthur,  and  reputed  one 
of  the  ix  worthy,  &  fyrst  &  chyef  of  the  crysten  men,  &  many  noble 
volumes  be  made  of  hym  &  of  his  noble  knyztes  in  frensshe  which  I 
haue  seen  &  redde  beyonde  the  see,  which  been  not  had  in  our  ma- 


8  SIR  THOMAS   MALORY 

temal  tongue,  but  in  walsshe  ben  many  &  also  in  frensshe,  &  Somme 
in  englysshe  but  nowher  nygh  alle,  wherfore  such  as  haue  late  ben 
drawen  oute  bryefly  in  to  englysshe,  I  haue  after  the  symple  connynge 
that  god  hath  sente  me,  vnder  the  fauour  and  correctyon  of  al  noble 
lordes  and  gentylmen  enprysed  to  enprynte  a  book  of  the  noble  hys- 
toryes  of  the  sayd  kynge  Arthur,  and  of  certeyn  of  his  knyghtes  after 
a  copye  vnto  me  delyuerd,  whyche  copys  Syr  Thomas  Malorye  dyd 
take  oute  of  certayn  bookes  of  frensshe  and  reduced  it  in  to  Eng- 
lysshe, And  I  accordyng  to  my  copye  haue  doon  sette  it  in  em- 
pry  nte  ..." 

The  volume  is  printed  without  folios,  head-lines,  or  catchwords,  in 
the  type  known  as  No.  4,  already  referred  to  under  the  Confessio. 
The  initial  letters  are  printed  from  wood. 

Only  two  copies  are  known ;  one  perfect,  from  which  the  facsimile 
of  the  title-page  was  taken,  the  other  an  imperfect  one,  which  be- 
longed to  Earl  Spencer's  collection.  The  British  Museum  possesses 
only  a  fragment.  Our  copy,  like  that  of  the  Confessio,  was  one  of 
the  nine  Caxtons  belonging  to  the  Fairfax  library.  In  the  list  of  1756, 
it  was  valued  at  two  pounds,  twelve  shillings  and  sixpence;  in  1885 
it  sold  for  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 

Folio. 

Collation:  432  leaves,  one  of  which  is  blank. 


THE    BOOK    OF    COMMON    PRAYER 

The  I  booke  of  the  common  praier  |  and  adminiftration 
of  the  I  Sacramentes,  and  |  other  rites  and  |  ceremo- 
nies I  of  the  I  Churche :  after  the  |  ufe  of  the  Churche 
of  I  Englande.  |  Londini,  in  officina  Richardi  Graftoni,  | 
[Two  Hnes]  Anno  Domini.  M.D.XLIX  |  Menfe  Mar- 
tij.  [Colophon]  Excufum  Londini,  in  edibus  Richardi 
Graftoni  |  Regij  Imprefforis.  |  Menfe  Junij  M.D.xHx.  | 
Cum  priuilegio  ad  imprimendum  folum 

We  know  very  little  about  the  preparation  of  the  book.  An  Act, 
dated  January  22,  1549,  entitled  "  An  Act  for  uniformity  of  Service 
and  Administration  of  the  Sacraments  throughout  the  Realm  "  speaks 
of  the  commissioners  who  had  been  appointed,  and  had  first  met  at 
Windsor  in  May,  1 548,  as  follows :  "  Whereof  His  Highness  by  the 
most  prudent  advice  ...  to  the  intent  a  uniform,  quiet,  and  godly 
order  should  be  had  concerning  the  premisses,  hath  appointed  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  certain  of  the  most  learned  and  discreet 
Bishops,  and  other  learned  men  of  this  realm  to  consider  and  ponder 
the  premisses."  The  same  Act  goes  on  to  say  "  the  which  at  this 
time  by  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  one  uniform  agreement  is 
of  them  concluded,  set  forth  and  delivered  to  his  highness,  to  his  great 
comfort  and  quietness  of  mind,  in  a  book  entituled, — 

"  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  Administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  other  rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church,  after  the  Use  of 
the  Church  of  England.^ ^ 

Richard  Grafton,  the  printer  of  our  copy,  was  originally  a  prosperous 
London  merchant.  His  zeal  for  religion  led  him  to  associate  himself 
with  Edward  Whitchurch,  another  merchant,  in  causing  Matthews's 
Bible  to  be  translated  and  printed  in  1537,  in  publishing  the  Cover- 
dale  Bible  of  1535,  and  again  in  printing  the  Cranmer  Bible  of  1540. 
He  turned  printer  eventually,  and  his  books  are  counted  among  the 
best  specimens  of  the  book-making  of  the  period.  He  and  his  friend, 
who  also  became  a  typographer,  received  a  patent  from  Henry  VIII 


lo  THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER 

in  1543  for  printing  "bookes  of  diuine  service,  that  is  to  say,  the 
masse  booke,  the  graill,  the  antyphoner,  the  himptnell,  the  portous, 
and  the  prymer,  both  in  Latyn  and  in  Englyshe  of  Sarum  use,"  all  of 
which  had  formerly  been  printed  abroad.  In  1546,  Grafton  was  ap- 
pointed printer  to  Prince  Edward,  afterward  Edward  VI,  and  in  1547 
printer  to  the  King.  When  the  Prayer  Book  came  to  be  put  to  press 
there  was  therefore  no  question  of  who  should  be  chosen  to  do  the 
work. 

Ames  says  that  Grafton  and  Whitchurch  continued  friends  and 
partners  for  many  years,  but  it  is  a  fact,  as  Dibdin  points  out,  that 
while  up  to  1 54 1  their  names  appear  together  upon  title-pages,  after 
that  date  there  are  usually  two  issues  of  each  work,  part  having 
Grafton's  name  in  the  imprint,  and  part  Whitchurch's.  This  is  true 
of  the  Cranmer  Bible,  and  the  same  thing  is  found  in  connection  with 
the  Prayer  Book.  It  is  not  known  whether  the  separation  is  due  to 
some  economic  arrangement  agreeable  to  both  printers,  or  whether 
they  may  have  quarreled.  To  the  names  of  these  two  printers  of  the 
first  edition,  however,  should  be  added  another,  that  of  John  Oswen 
of  Worcester,  formerly  of  Ipswich,  who  by  virtue  of  a  license  from 
Edward  VI  was  printer  of  "  every  kind  of  book,  or  books,  set  forth  by 
us,  concerning  the  service  to  be  used  in  churches,  ministration  of  the 
sacraments,  and  instruction  of  oiu"  subjects  of  the  Principality  of 
Wales,  and  marches  thereunto  belonging  ...  for  seven  years,  pro- 
hibiting all  other  persons  whatsoever  from  printing  the  same." 

All  issues  of  this  edition  differ  more  or  less  in  general  style  and  ap- 
pearance. The  most  marked  dissimilarity  in  the  volumes  issued  by  the 
London  printers  lies  in  the  special  woodcut  title-page  used  by  each. 
Grafton's  beautiful  border  (repeated  for  "A  Table"  and  "Kalendar") 
shows,  above  a  Doric  frieze  supported  by  pilasters,  a  view  of  the 
Council  Chamber  with  King  Edward,  surrounded  by  his  advisers,  and 
at  the  bottom  the  printer's  punning  mark,  on  a  shield  upheld  by  two 
angels.  It  is  as  fine  a  piece  of  work  as  anything  of  the  period.  Graf- 
ton afterward  used  the  same  border  for  his  edition  of  A  Concordance 
of  the  Bible,  printed  in  1550.  The  Whitchurch  copies  have  a  wood- 
cut border  very  similar  in  character  to  those  in  use  twenty  years  later, 
which  have  the  appearance  of  being  related  to  some  of  the  borders 
drawn  for  Plantin.  This  border  consists  of  caryatids  representing 
Roman  soldiers  with  shields,  supporting  the  royal  coat-of-arms,  and 
below,  satyrs  and  loves  with  another  coat-of-arms  in  a  cartouche,  and 
the  initial  ^  in  a  tablet  on  one  side,  and  W  on  the  other. 


THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON   PRAYER   ii 

The  earliest  known  copy  printed  by  Oswen,  a  quarto,  has  a  colo- 
phon which  reads :  C  -^^  Worceter  by  C  |  Jhon  Ofwen.  C  ^O'  ^^  ^^^o 
to  fell  at  Shrewefburye.  |  {Imprinted  the  xxiiii.  day  of  May.  |  Anno. 
M.D.XLIV.  The  title  is  framed  by  a  border  made  up  of  five  wood- 
cut panels,  carelessly  arranged ;  and  some  of  the  initial  letters  are 
ornamented. 

Another  copy,  dated  July  30,  is  in  foHo.  The  title-page  is  here 
bordered  with  ten  woodcuts,  having  between  the  inner  and  outer  sets 
the  rubricated  text :  "  Let  euerye  soule  submyt  hym  felfe  unto  the  auc- 
thorite  of  the  higher  powers.  For  there  is  no  power  but  of  God.  The 
powers  that  be,  are  ordained  of  God  whofoeuer  therefore  refifleth 
power:  refilleth  the  ordinance  of  God.  Rom.  XIVI."  A  royal  coat- 
of-arms,  which  in  the  quarto  was  placed  before  the  order  of  Matins, 
here  heads  the  title,  printed  in  red.  Every  other  line  following  is  also 
rubricated.  In  Grafton's  copy  the  "Te  Deum  Laudamus,"  "The 
Song  of  Zacharias,"  and  "  The  Letany,"  occiu"  at  the  end  of  the  book 
but  are  not  in  the  table  of  Contents. 

The  statement  made  in  the  Act  that  the  work  had  been  concluded, 
set  forth,  and  delivered,  must  apply,  it  is  thought,  to  the  manuscript, 
since  no  printed  copy  is  known  dated  eariier  than  March.  A  copy 
printed  by  Whitchurch  has  the  date  March  7,  1549,  and  another  by 
Grafton  is  dated  the  eighth ;  other  copies  are  dated  in  May,  June  and 
July.  The  book  was  used  in  the  London  chiirches  on  Easter  Day, 
April  21,1 549,  and  was  ordered,  as  we  have  seen,  to  be  used  in  all 
churches  after  the  Feast  of  Pentecost,  which  fell  upon  June  9  in  1549. 

From  the  requirements  of  its  use,  we  may  infer  that  the  edition  must 
have  been  a  large  one.  We  are  sure  of  the  price  of  the  volume  from 
the  following  note,  added  at  the  end  of  the  book:  "The  Kynges 
Maieftie,  by  the  aduyfe  of  his  mofte  deare  vncle  the  Lorde  Pro- 
tector and  other  his  highnes  Counfell,  ftreightly  chargeth  and  com- 
maundeth,  that  no  maner  of  perfon  do  fell  this  prefent  booke  vn- 
bounde,  aboue  the  price  of  .ii.  Shyllynges  the  piece.  And  the  fame 
bounde  in  pafte  or  in  boordes,  not  aboue  the  price  of  three  (hylleynges 
and  foure  pence  the  piece.  God  faue  the  Kyng."  The  price  differs 
in  different  volumes.  A  copy  of  Oswen's  May  24th  issue  sets  the 
price  at  two  shillings  and  twopence  for  unbound  copies,  and  three 
shillings  eightpence  for  bound  copies. 

Folio.     Black  letter  and  Roman. 

Collation  :  1 83  leaves,  including  title-page.    Sig.  A—  V,  AA—f. 


WILLIAM    LANGLAND 

(1330?— 1400?) 

The  Vision  |  of  Pierce  Plowman,  now  |  fyrfte  imprynted 
by  Roberte  |  Crowley,  dwellyngin  Ely  |  rentes  in  Hol- 
burne.  |  Anno  Domini  |  1505.  Cum  priuilegio  ad  im  | 
primendu  folum.  [Colophon]  C.  Imprinted  at  London 
by  Roberte  |  Crowley,  dwellyng  in  Elye  rentes  |  in 
Holburne.     The  year  of  |  Our  Lord  M.D.L. 

Before  appearing  with  this  work  as  a  publisher,  Robert  Crowley  was 
by  no  means  unknown  to  the  reading  world  as  a  writer ;  nor  was  it 
probably  a  mere  printer's  venture  that  led  him  to  select  such  a  work 
as  this  for  publication,  but  sympathy  with  the  tendency  of  the  book 
itself.  He  had  been  educated  at  Oxford,  and  received  early  the  strong 
bent  toward  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  which  prompted  the 
writing  of  his  first  three  books,  whose  titles  indicate  something  of  his 
leaning  in  the  rehgious  controversies  of  the  day :  The  Confutation  of 
the  mifhapen  Aujtfwer  to  the  mifnamed,  wicked  Ballade,  called  the 
Abufe  of  y^  bleffed facramet  of  the  aultare  .  .  .  that  Myles  Hoggard .  .  . 
hath  wrefted.  .  .  .  Compiled  by  Robert  Crowley.  Anno.  1 548 ;  The  con- 
futation of  .xiii  Articles,  wherunto  Nicolas  Shaxton  .  .  .  fubfcribed  and 
.  .  .  recanted  .  .  .  at  the  burning  of .  .  .  Anne  Afkue,  in  [1548]  and 
An  informacion  and  Peticion  agaynft  the  oppref/burs  of  the  Pore  Com- 
mons of  this  Realme,\n  [1548].  We  may  picture  to  ourselves  with 
what  relish  so  controversial  and  partisan  a  soul  must  have  prepared 
for  the  press,  and  then  watched  through  it,  what  Ellis  calls  "the 
keenest  ridicule  of  the  vices  of  all  orders  of  men,  and  particularly  of 
the  religious." 

Crowley's  career  as  a  printer  was  only  an  incident  in  a  life  de- 
voted to  championing  the  new  doctrines  of  Protestantism.  The  three 
books  mentioned  were  printed  by  Day  and  Sere ;  and  Herbert  thinks 


WILLIAM   LANGLAND  13 

that  it  may  have  been  in  their  office  that  our  printer-writer  learned 
the  trade  which  he  followed  for  three  years  only.  Considering  the 
fact  that  his  press  was  situated  in  Ely  Rents,  where  William  Sere 
also  dated  his  books  in  1548,  and  thereabouts,  this  seems  very 
probable.  But  from  Crowley's  use  of  the  excellently  designed  and 
really  charming  woodcut  border  with  Edward  Whitechurch's  cipher  at 
the  bottom  and  his  symbol  of  the  sun  at  the  top,  we  may  almost  infer 
that  he  was  on  equally  familiar  relations  with  that  printer,  established 
at  The  Sun,  over  against  the  Conduit.  We  may  add  that  William 
Copeland  of  The  Rose  Garland  also  used,  at  a  later  date,  a  similar 
compartment  in  several  of  his  books. 

One  might  expect  Crowley,  serious  and  scholarly  in  his  tastes, 
to  be  a  careful  editor ;  and  his  researches  to  find  his  author's  name, 
as  revealed  in  "The  Printer  to  the  Reader,"  prove  that  he  was  such 
an  one,  even  if,  for  some  reason  or  other,  he  did  not  choose  to  place 
the  name  upon  the  title-page.     He  says : 

"  Beynge  defyerous  to  knowe  the  name  of  the  Autoure  of  this  mofl 
worthy  worke,  (gentle  reader)  and  the  tyme  of  the  writynge  of  the 
fame :  I  did  not  onely  gather  togyther  fuche  aunciente  copies  as  I 
could  come  by,  but  alfo  confult  fuch  me  as  I  knew  to  be  more 
exercifed  in  the  fludie  of  antiquities,  than  I  myselfe  haue  ben.  And 
by  fome  of  them  I  haue  learned  that  the  Autour  was  named 
Roberte  langelande,  a  Shropshere  man  borne  in  Cleybirie,  aboute 
.viii.  myles  from  Malueme  hilles  ...  So  that  this  I  may  be  bold  to 
reporte,  that  it  was  fyrlle  made  and  wrytten  after  the  yeare  of  our 
lord  .M.iii.C.L.  and  before  the  yere  ,M,iiiiC,  and  .ix  which  meane 
fpafe  was  .lix  yeares.  We  may  iuflly  coiect  therfore,  y*  it  was  firlle 
written  about  two  hundred  yeres  pafle,  in  the  tyme  of  Kynge  Ed- 
warde  the  thyrde  ..." 

The  year  after  The  Vision  was  published  our  printer  was  ordained 
a  deacon,  and,  later,  made  vicar  of  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  where  he 
preached  and  wrote  until  his  death.  He  published  no  less  than 
twenty-two  volumes,  eight  of  which  he  printed  himself,  thus  taking 
his  place,  along  with  Caxton,  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  printer- 
authors  which  includes  such  names  as  Wolfe,  Baldwin,  Richardson 
and  Morris. 

Dibdin  calls  the  vellum  copy  of  The  Vision  which  belonged  to  Earl 
Spencer  unique,  but  the  copy  here  collated  would  deprive  it  of  that 
distinction,  even  if  there  were  not  another  in  the  British  Museum. 


14  WILLIAM   LANGLAND 

A  comparison  of  several  copies  of  the  book  reveals  the  fact  that 
in  most  of  them  the  date  on  the  title-page  has  been  written  in  to 
correct  the  printer's  error. 

There  were  three  other  impressions  issued  during  1550,  two  of  them 
said  to  be  "nowe  the  feconde  tyme  imprinted,"  and  the  third  with 
the  printer's  name  spelled  "  Crowlye  "  on  the  title-page.  Rev.  W.  W. 
Skeat  in  his  edition  of  The  Vision  says : 

"  But  all  three  impressions  are  much  alike.  The  chief  differences  are, 
that  the  two  later  impressions  have  many  more  marginal  notes,  a  few 
additional  lines,  and  also  6  additional  leaves  between  the  printer's 
preface  and  the  poem  itself,  containing  a  brief  argument  or  abstract  of 
the  prologue  and  of  each  of  the  Passus.  The  first  impression  is  the 
most  correct ;  also  the  third  impression  is  much  less  correct  than 
the  second,  and  considerably  inferior  to  it." 

Quarto.     Black  letter. 

Collation  :   -5^,  two  leaves  ;  A-GgI,  in  fours.     Folioed. 


RAPHAEL   HOLINSHED 
OR  HOLLINGSHEAD 

(d.  1580?) 

6.  1577.  I  The  Firfte  volume  of  the  |  Chronicles  of  England 
Scot  I  lande,  and  Irelande.  |  Conteyning,  |  The  defcrip- 
tion  and  Chronicles  of  England,  from  the  |  firft  inhabiting 
vnto  the  conquefl  |  [Six  lines]  Faithfully  gathered 
and  fet  forth,  by  |  Raphaell  Holinfhed.  |  At  London,  | 
Imprinted  for  George  Bifhop.  |  God  faue  the  Queene. 

1577  I  The  I  Lafte  volume  of  the  |  Chronicles  of  Eng- 
land, Scot-  I  lande,  and  Irelande,  with  |  their  defcrip- 
tions.  I  Conteyning,  |  The  Chronicles  of  Englande  from 
William  Con-  |  querour  vntill  this  prefent  tyme.  |  Faith- 
fully gathered  and  compiled  |  by  Raphaell  Holinfhed. 
I  At  London,  |  Imprinted  for  George  |  Bifhop.  |  [Prin- 
ter's mark]  God  faue  the  Queene. 

The  first  edition  is  known  as  the  Shakespeare  edition,  because  it  was 
used  by  the  great  poet,  in  common  with  all  the  Elizabethan  dramatists, 
in  the  preparation  of  his  historical  plays. 

That  Holinshed  used  the  adjective  faithfully  in  its  true  sense  may 
be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  dedication  of  the  book  to  Sir  William 
Cecil,  Baron  of  Burleigh,  whose  coat-of-arms  appears  on  the  back  of 
the  title-page.  Here  he  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  inception 
and  fortunes  of  the  work,  with  an  incidental  side-light  upon  the  relations 
of  printer  and  professional  writer : 

"Where  as  therefore,  that  worthie  Citizen  Reginald  Wolfe  late 
Printer  to  the  Queenes  Maiestie,  a  man  well  knowen  and  beholden  to 
your  Honour,  meant  in  his  life  time  to  publifli  an  vniuerfall  Cofmogra- 

15 


i6  RAPHAEL    HOLINSHED 

phie  of  the  whole  worlde,  and  therewith  alfo  certaine  perticular  Histo- 
ries of  euery  knowen  nation,  amongfl  other  whorae  he  purpofed  to  vfe 
for  performance  of  his  entent  in  that  behalfe,  he  procured  me  to  take  in 
hande  the  collection  of  thofe  Histories,  and  hauing  proceeded  fo  far  in 
the  fame,  as  little  wanted  to  the  accomplifhment  of  that  long  promifed 
worke,  it  pleased  God  to  call  him  to  his  mercie,  after  .xxv  yeares 
trauell  fpent  therein,  so  that  by  his  vntimely  deceaffe,  no  hope  remayned 
to  fee  that  performed,  which  we  had  so  long  trauayled  aboute :  thofe 
yet  whom  he  left  in  trust  to  difpofe  his  things  after  his  departure  hence, 
wifhing  to  the  benefite  of  others,  that  fome  fruite  might  follow  of  that 
whereabout  he  had  imployed  fo  long  time,  willed  me  to  continue  mine 
endeuour  for  their  furtherance  in  the  fame,  whiche  although  I  was 
ready  to  do,  fo  farre  as  mine  abihtie  would  reach,  and  the  rather  to 
anfwere  that  trust  which  the  deceaffed  repofed  in  me,  to  fee  it  brought 
to  fome  perfection :  yet  when  the  volume  grewe  fo  great,  as  they  that 
were  to  defray  the  charges  for  the  Imprefsion,  were  not  willing  to  go 
through  with  the  whole,  they  refolued  first  to  pubhfhe  the  Histories  of 
Englande,  Scotlande,  and  Irelande,  with  their  defcriptions,  whiche 
defriptions,  becaufe  they  were  not  in  fuch  readinefle,  as  thofe  of 
forreyn  countreys,  they  were  enforced  to  ufe  the  helpe  of  other  better 
able  to  do  it  than  I." 

Reginald  Wolfe,  so  well  known  and  highly  esteemed,  was  a  German 
by  birth,  and  trained  in  his  craft  in  the  office  of  the  Strasburg  master 
Conrad  Neobarius,  whose  device  of  The  Brazen  Serpent  he  after- 
ward adopted.  Edward  VI  appointed  Wolfe  royal  printer  in  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew,  as  well  as  bookseller  and  stationer,  with  an 
annuity  of  26s.  8d. 

We  find  the  names  of  his  executors  and  the  chief  promoters  of  the 
history  in  the  entry  on  the  Registers  of  the  Stationers'  Company, 
under  date  of  July  i,  1578  :  "  Receyued  of  master  harrison  and  mas- 
ter Bisshop  for  the  licensinge  of  Raphaels  Hollingshedes  cronycles 
XX^  and  a  copy,"  which,  by  the  way,  Mr.  Asher  remarks  to  be  the 
largest  fee  he  had  met  with.  Some  copies  bear  the  imprint  of  one, 
some  of  the  other ;  and  there  are  still  others  with  the  names  of  John 
Harrison  (there  were  four  publishers  of  this  name),  Lucas  Harrison 
and  John  Hunne,  who  were  also  probably  among  them  "  that  were  to 
defray  the  charges  for  the  impression." 

No  printer's  name  appears  in  either  volume,  but  the  figure  of  a 
mermaid  upon  the  title-pages,  and  a  larger  mark  of  two  hands  hold- 


RAPHAEL    HOLINSHED  17 

ing  a  serpent  upon  a  crutch  at  the  end  of  the  first  volume,  show  it 
to  have  been  ^rom  the  press  of  Reginald  Wolfe's  apprentice  and  suc- 
cessor, Henry  Bynneman  of  The  Mermaid,  in  Knight  Rider  Street. 
Boy  and  man  knowing  his  master's  hopes  and  fears  for  his  Universal 
Cosmographie,  acquainted  with  the  long  travail  put  upon  it,  and  so 
properly  desirous,  like  the  rest,  to  see  some  fruit  born  of  it,  who  could 
have  done  the  work  so  well  and  faithfully  as  he? 

In  the  preface  to  the  second  volume  we  are  told  that  it  was  in- 
tended to  bring  out  the  histories  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
with  their  descriptions,  in  one  volume,  and  the  descriptions  and 
abridgements  of  the  histories  of  other  countries  in  another ;  but  that 
the  chronicles  of  England  growing  very  voluminous  it  was  deemed 
best  to  defer  printing  the  histories  of  the  other  countries,  and  to 
divide  the  material  on  hand  into  two  volumes.  Here,  however,  a 
new  difficulty  presented  itself;  the  history  of  England  after  the  Con- 
quest was  found  to  equal  in  length  all  the  other  matter,  and,  if 
allowed  to  follow  after  the  early  history  of  the  Island,  in  its  proper 
order,  would  make  the  volumes  very  unequal  in  size ;  so  it  was  given 
a  volume  by  itself,  with  the  pagination  continuing  that  of  the  English 
history  in  the  first  volume.  The  other  histories  have  separate  title- 
pages,  paginations,  and  indexes. 

The  book  is  illustrated  with  woodcuts  in  two  distinct  varieties,  one, 
representing  the  heads  of  kings,  the  other,  spirited  scenes  in  the  history. 
The  last  are  of  a  better  character  than  most  of  those  of  the  period,  and 
show  very  clearly  the  influence  that  Holbein,  who  had  died  in  London 
twenty-four  years  before,  had  exerted  upon  English  book-illustration. 
Some  of  the  cuts  are  repeated.  The  elaborate  woodcut  border  in  the 
contemporary  German  style  was  used  by  the  printer  in  several  other 
books,  before  and  after  this  date.  A  large,  well-designed  initial  C, 
with  a  coat-of-arms  in  the  center,  printed  from  a  separate  block 
("mortised"),  begins  the  dedication  to  Lord  Burleigh;  and  a  large  I, 
with  a  picture  of  the  Creation,  probably  designed  for  the  first  page  of 
a  Bible,  begins  the  preface,  and  The  History  of  Scotland.  This  last  is 
the  largest  initial  letter,  Mr.  Pollard  says,  that  he  has  found  in  an  Eng- 
lish book.  It  had  previously  been  used  by  Wolfe,  in  1563.  An  initial 
letter,  representing  an  astronomer  (Ptolemy  ?),  is  prefixed  to  The  His- 
tory of  Ireland.  It  is  signed  with  a  C  having  a  small  I  within  it. 
Other  initials  of  a  similar  character  had  been  used  before  by  John 
Day,    in    Cunningham's    Cosmographical    Years,   published   in    1559. 


i8  RAPHAEL    HOLINSHED 

A  royal  coat-of-arms  begins  the  Chronicle  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth ;  and  in  the  second  volume,  at  page  1 868,  is  a  folded  woodcut 
of  the  "fiege  and  wynning  of  Edinburg  Caflell.  Anno.  1573."  It 
is  signed  I  c   t  |    Tyrell. 

Folio.     Two  volumes.      Black  letter  and  Roman.      Double 
columns.     Woodcuts. 

Collation  :  ^,six  leaves;  'k^two  leaves;  A-F,  in  eights;  Q,six  leaves; 
r,  one  leaf;  a-s,  in  eights;  t,  one  leaf;  A  and  (*b*J,  two  leaves  each; 
*  a*  and  *b*,  six  leaves  each;  A—Z  and  Aa—Ii,  in  eights;  Kk,four 
leaves;  LI  and  Mm,  six  leaves  each;  one  leaf;  ^gi^,  two  leaves;  A—C, 
in  eights;  D,  four  leaves ;  and  A  ( repeated )-D,  in  eights ;  E,  five 
leaves;  F and  G,  eight  leaves  each;  If,  six  leaves;  I,  two  leaves. 

Volume  II :  jj,  two  leaves;  t,  seven  leaves;  u-z,A-Z,  Aa-Zz,  Aaa- 
ZzZj  and  Aaaa-Dddd,  in  eights;  Eeee,  nine  leaves;  -Pfff-Yyyy,  in 
eights;  Zzzz,  two  leaves;  A-M,  in  fours ;  N,  two  leaves ;  ( ),  two 
leaves. 


WILLIAM    BALDWIN 

(fl.  1547), 
THOMAS    SACKVILLE, 

FIRST    EARL    OF    DORSET 
(1536 1608),    AND    OTHERS 

7.  IE  A  Myrrour  For  |  Magiftrates.  |  Wherein  maye  be 
feen  by  |  example  of  other,  with  howe  gre-  |  uous 
plages  vices  are  punifhed  .  .  .  [Five  lines,  Quotation] 
Anno  1563.  I  IE  Imprinted  at  London  in  Fleteftrete  |  nere 
to  Saynct  Dunftans  Churche  |  by  Thomas  Marfhe. 

The  Epistle  "  To  the  nobilitye  and  all  other  in  office  "  is  signed  by 
William  Baldwin,  who  was  at  one  time  a  corrector  of  the  press  to 
Edward  Whitechm^ch,  and  later  something  of  a  printer  himself.  He 
printed  with  his  own  hands,  using  Whitechurch's  types  and  the  Gar- 
land border,  his  work  entitled  f[  The  Canticles  or  Balades  of  Salomon 
phrafelyke  declared  in  EnglyJJi  Metres.  Imprinted  at  London  by  William 
Baldwin^  feruant  with  Edwarde  Whitechurche.  It  was  he  who  edited 
and  saw  this  work  through  the  press.     He  says  of  it : 

"  The  wurke  was  begun  and  parte  of  it  prynted  in  Queene  Maries 
tyme,  but  hyndered  by  the  Lorde  Chauncellour  that  then  was,  never- 
theles,  through  the  meanes  of  my  lord  Stafford,  the  fyrst  parte  was 
licenced,  and  imprynted  the  fyrft  yeare  of  the  raygne  of  this  our  moll 
noble  and  vertuous  Queene,  and  dedicate  then  to  your  honours  with 
this  Preface.  Since  whych  time,  although  I  have  bene  called  to  an 
other  trade  of  lyfe,  yet  my  good  Lorde  Stafforde  hath  not  ceaffed  to 
call  upon  me,  to  publyfhe  fo  much  as  I  had  gotte  at  other  mens  hands, 
fo  that  through  his  Lordfliyppes  earneft  meanes,  I  have  nowe  alfo  fet 


20  WILLIAM  BALDWIN  AND  OTHERS 

furth  an  other  parte,  conteynyng  as  little  of  myne  owne,  as  the  fyrst 
part  doth  of  other  mens,"  and  he  expressed  the  hope  that  if  these 
prove  acceptable,  encouragement  may  be  given  to  "  wurthy  wittes  to 
enterpryfe  and  performe  the  reft." 

After  the  abortive  attempt  of  Wayland  to  print  the  book,  under 
the  title  A  memorial  of  suche  Princes,  as  since  the  tyme  of  King  Rich- 
arde  the  seconde,  haue  beene  unfortunate  in  the  Realme  of  England.  In 
cedibus  Johannis  Waylandi:  Londini  [1555  ?J,  the  first  part  referred  to 
was  printed  by  Marshe  in  1559.  It  contained  nineteen  legends 
(although  twenty  are  mentioned  in  the  table  of  contents),  foiuteen  of 
which  were  by  Baldwin,  and  the  others  by  Ferrers,  Churchyard,  Phaer, 
and  Skelton.  Of  these  helpers,  Baldwin  says  in  the  Epistle :  "  Whan  I 
fird  tooke  it  in  hand,  I  had  the  helpe  of  many  graimted,  &  offred  of 
fum,  but  of  few  perfourmed,  skarfe  of  any :  So  that  wher  I  entended 
to  haue  contriued  it  to  Queue  Maries  time,  I  haue  ben  faine  to  end  it 
much  fooner :  yet  fo,  that  it  may  ftande  for  a  patame,  till  the  reft  be 
ready:  which  with  Gods  Grace — (if  I  may  haue  anye  helpe)  (hall  be 
fhortly." 

The  idea  of  the  work  is  usually  said  to  have  originated  with  Sack- 
ville,  who,  following  Lydgate's  Fall  of  Princes,  planned  it  as  a  review 
of  the  illustrious  and  unfortunate  characters  in  English  history  from 
the  Conquest  to  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  turned  the  work  over  to  Baldwin  and  the  others,  after  writing 
an  "  Induction,"  and  one  legend,  the  Ufe  of  Henry  Stafford,  Duke 
of  Buckingham  ;  but  no  good  reason  is  given  for  the  omission  of  these 
poems  from  the  volume  when  it  came  to  be  printed  in  1559.  Baldwin's 
reason,  already  quoted,  seems  likely  enough,  and  Lord  Stafford's 
urgent  entreaty,  referred  to,  no  doubt  had  the  effect  of  causing  both 
poems  to  be  added  to  the  edition  issued  now,  where  they  appear 
as  The  Seconde  Parte  of  the  volmne  of  1559.  The  title-pages  of  the 
two  editions  are  alike,  except  for  the  date  and  the  imprint ;  this 
in  the  earlier  edition  reads :  Londini,  In  cedibus  TTioma  Marjhe.  No 
reference  is  made  to  the  additional  part  except  in  the  Epistle.  The 
new  part  has  a  separate  index. 

This  new  part  contains  only  one  poem  by  Baldwin ;  the  others, 
besides  Sackville's  two,  are  by  Dolman,  Francis  Segar,  Churchyard, 
Ferrers,  and  Cavyl,  eight  in  all.  Besides  the  poems,  there  is  "A 
profe  to  the  Reader,  continued  betwene  the  tragedies  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  booke  to  the  ende,"  just  as  in  the  first  part. 


\ 


WILLIAM  BALDWIN  AND   OTHERS  21 

To  the  Earl  of  Dorset's  legend  "  The  complaynt  of  Henrye  duke  of 
Buckingham,"  is  prefixed  "The  Induction,"  of  which  Baldwin  speaks 
in  the  prose  following  Howe  the  Lord  Hastynges  was  betrayed,  as 
follows:  "but  f)rrft  you  shal  heare  his  preface  or  Induction.  Hath 
he  made  a  preface  (^  one)  what  meaneth  he  thereby,  feeing  none 
other  hath  ufed  the  like  order.  I  wyl  tell  you  the  caufe  thereof 
(^  I)  which  is  thys :  After  that  he  vnderfloode  that  some  of  the  coun- 
fayle  would  not  fuffer  the  booke  to  be  printed  in  fuche  order  as  we  had 
agreed  and  determined,  he  propofed  with  himfelfe  to  haue  gotten  at  my 
handes,  al  the  tragedies  that  were  before  the  duke  of  Buckinghams, 
Which  he  would  haue  preferued  in  one  volume.  And  from  that  time 
backeward  euen  to  the  time  of  William  the  conquerour,  he  determined 
to  continue  and  perfect  all  the  flory  himfelfe,  in  fuch  order  as  Lydgate 
(folowing  Bocchas)  had  already  ufed.  And  therefore  to  make  a  meete 
induction  into  the  matter,  he  deuifed  this  poefye:" 

The  woodcut  border  of  four  pieces  with  heads  of  Venus  and  Mars 
at  the  top  had  been  used  by  John  Byddell  in  Tavemer's  translation  of 
the  BibU  in  1539,  by  James  Nicholson  of  Southwark,  in  Coverdale's 
New  Testament  of  1538,  and  by  Marsh  for  the  edition  of  the  Mirror 
in  1559.  There  are  a  few  ornamental  initial  letters  at  the  beginning 
of  the  book,  notably  one  at  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle,  a  large  P, 
with  figures  of  children.  This  belongs  to  a  series  of  a  children's 
alphabet  attributed  to  Diirer,  and  first  used  by  Cervicornus,  a  printer 
of  Cologne. 

Quarto.     The  second  edition.     Black  letter. 

Collation  :  ^  and  A,  four  leaves  each;  B—N,  in  eights;   O-  U,  in 
fours;  X-Z  and  Aa-Bb,  in  eights;   Cc,  four  leaves. 


I 


HENRY  HOWARD, 

EARL  OF  SURREY 
(151  7? 1547),  AND    OTHERS 

8.  H  Songes  And  Sonettes  |  written  by  the  right  honor- 
able I  Lord  Henry  H award  late  |  Earle  of  Surrey,  and  | 
others.  |  Apud  Richardum  Tottell.  |  1567.  |  Cum  priui- 
legio.  (Colophon)  H  Imprinted  At  Lon-  |  Don  In 
Fletestrete  within  Temple  barre  at  the  |  figne  of  the 
hand  and  ftarre,  by  |  Richard  Tottell,  |  Anno.  1567.  | 
Cum  priuilegio. 

Richard  Tottel  was  licensed  to  print  law-books,  and  his  publications 
of  that  nature  exhibit  his  best  work ;  but  this  book,  though  not  attrac- 
tive in  appearance,  was  his  most  popular  venture.  It  was  called 
"Tottel's  miscellany,"  and  it  is  fitting  that  his  name  should  always  be 
connected  with  it  as  a  testimony  to  his  energy  and  intelligence  in 
producing  a  work  so  greatly  to  the  "  honor  of  the  English  tongue." 
We  learn  something  of  his  energy  in  his  desire  to  establish  a  paper- 
mill  in  England  to  compete  with  the  French  paper,  then  in  general 
use ;  and  his  inteUigence  is  evinced  in  the  following  extract  from  his 
address  "To  the  reader"  : 

"That  to  haue  wel  written  in  verfe,  yea  and  in  fmal  parcelles, 
deferueth  greate  praife,  the  woorkes  of  diuers  Latins,  Italians,  and 
other,  do  proue  fufficiently,  that  our  tong  is  able  in  that  kinde  to  do  as 
praife  woorthelye  as  the  reile,  the  honorable  flile  of  the  Earle  of 
Surreye,  and  the  weightinelTe  of  the  deepe  wytted  Syr  Thomas  Wyat 
the  elders  verfe,  withe  feueral  graces  in  fundrie  good  English  writers, 
doe  fhewe  abundantlye.  It  refleth  now  (gentle  Reader)  that  thou 
thinke  it  not  euill  done  to  publifh  to  the  honour  of  the  Englifhe  tongue 
and  for  profit  of  the  fludious  of   English  eloquence,  thofe  woorkes 


HENRY   HOWARD   AND    OTHERS     23 

which  the  ungentle  horders  up  of  fuche  treafure  haue  hertofore  enuied 
thee." 

His  confidence  in  the  gentle  reader  was  not  misplaced,  and  he  had 
the  satisfaction  of  issuing  six  editions  between  1557  and  1574.  The 
first  was  printed  at  The  Hand  and  Star,  June  5,  1557,  and  is  repre- 
sented by  one  copy  which  is  in  the  Bodleian  Library ;  the  British 
Museum  and  the  Library  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  each  owns  a 
copy  of  a  second  edition,  dated  July  31,  1557;  one  copy  exists  of 
a  third  edition  dated  1559 ;  and  there  is  a  fourth  edition  dated  1565. 
The  present  edition  agrees  in  its  contents  with  the  second,  and  is 
said  to  be  the  most  correct  of  all. 

This  volume  contains  two  hundred  and  eighty  sonnets,  of  which  the 
first  forty-one  (including  one  by  an  unknown  author)  are  by  Lord 
Howard.  "S.  T.  Wyate  the  elder"  is  signed  to  the  next  group  of 
ninety-six ;  and  a  collection  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  by  "  Vn- 
certain  auctours,"  follows.  The  collection  ends  with  ten  "  Songs 
written  by  N.  G."  (Nicholas  Grimald).  Grimald  had  contributed 
forty  to  the  first  edition,  which  were  cut  down  to  the  present  number 
for  the  second  edition. 

Octavo.     The  fifth  edition.     Roman. 
Collation  :  A-F,  in  eights. 


THOMAS    NORTON 

(1532— 1584) 

AND 

THOMAS  SACKVILLE, 

FIRST  EARL  OF  DORSET 
(1536— 1608) 

^The  Tragidie  of  Ferrex  |  and  Porrex,  |  fet  forth 
without  addition  or  alte-  |  ration  but  altogether  as  the 
fame  was  fhewed  |  on  ftage  before  the  Queenes  Maief- 
tie,  I  about  nine  yeares  paft,  vz.  the  |  xviij.  day  of  lan- 
uarie.  1561.  |  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  |  Inner  Temple. 
Seen  and  allowed.  &c.  |  Imprinted  at  London  by  | 
lohn  Daye,  dwelling  ouer  |  Alderfgate. 

This  play,  drawn  from  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth's  History  of  Britain^ 
and  telling  the  story  of  King  Gorboduc's  efforts  to  divide  his  realm 
between  his  sons  Ferrex  and  Porrex,  was  the  first  tragedy  written  in 
English.  Before  this  authorized  edition,  one  unauthorized  by  the 
writers,  though  regularly  licensed  by  the  Government,  had  appeared 
in  an  octavo  volume  of  thirty-six  leaves,  printed  in  black  letter,  with  a 
title-page  which  reads  as  follows : 

TJie  I  tragedie  of  Gorboduc^  |  where  of  three  Actes  were  wrytten  by  \ 
Thomas  Nortone,  and  the  two  laste  by  |  Thomas  Sackuyle.  |  Sette 
forthe  as  the  same  was  shewed  before  the  |  Qvenes  most  excellent  Maiestie^ 
in  her  highnes  |  Court  of  Whitehall,  the  XViii  day  of  January  |  Anno 
£>ofnini,  1561.  By  the  Gentlemen  of  Thynner  Temple  in  London.  | 
Imprynted  at  London  \  in  Flete  strete,  at  the  Signe  of  the  Faucon  by 
William  Griffith;  and  are  |  to  be  sold  at  his  shop  in  Saincte  |  Dun- 
stones  Churchy arde  in  |  the  West  of  London.  |  Anno.  1565.  Septemb.  22. 

24 


NORTON   AND   SACKVILLE  25 

Day,  in  his  introductory  note  to  the  present  volume,  entitled  "  The 
P  to  the  Reader,"  explains  very  satisfactorily  the  reason  for  the  new 
edition,  but  lets  us  only  infer  why  he  dropped  the  author's  name  from 
the  title-page.     He  says : 

"Where  this  Tragedie  was  for  furniture  of  part  of  the  grand  Chrifl- 
maffe  in  the  Inner  Temple  firfl  written  about  nine  yeares  agoe  by  the 
right  honourable  Thomas  now  Lorde  Buckherfl,  and  by  T.  Norton, 
and  after  Ihewed  before  her  Maieflie,  and  never  intended  by  the 
authors  therof  to  be  published :  yet  one  W.  G.  getting  a  copie  therof 
at  fome  yongnians  hand  that  lacked  a  little  money  and  much  difcre- 
tion,  in  the  lafl  great  plage,  an.  1565.  about  V.  yeares  pafl,  while  the 
faid  Lord  was  out  of  England,  and  T.  Norton  farre  out  of  London, 
and  neither  of  them  both  made  priuie,  put  it  forth  exceedingly  cor- 
rupted." 

Then,  the  worthy  printer  goes  on  to  say  in  a  very  allegorical  vein, 
that  being  so  dishonored,  her  parents,  the  authors,  very  much  dis- 
pleased, gave  her  into  his  hands  to  be  sent  forth  honorably ;  and  he 
hopes  she  will  be  well  received,  else  he  will  wish  that  she  had  tarried 
at  home  with  him  "  for  fhe  did  neuer  put  me  to  more  charge,  but  this 
one  poore  black  gowne  lin^d  with  white  that  I  haue  now  geuen  her  to 
goe  abroad  among  you  withall." 

Quarto.     The  first  authorized  edition.     Roman. 
Collation  :  A-Ht,,  in  fours. 


JOHN    LYLY 

(1553?— 1606) 

10.  Euphues.  I  The  Anatomy  |  of  Wit.  |  [10  lines]  By 
lohn  Lylie,  Maifter  of  Art.  |  Corrected  and  augmented.  | 
At  London  |  Printed  for  Gabriell  Cawood,  |  dwelling  in 
Paules  Church-yard.  [Colophon]  1[  Imprinted  at  Lon- 
don by  I  Thomas  Eaft,  for  Gabrill  Cawood,  |  dwelling  in 
Paules  Church-  |  yard  1581. 

The  work  was  licensed  "under  the  hande  of  the  bishopp  of  London" 
December  2,  1578,  and  was  printed  for  Cawood  by  Thomas  Eate,  or 
East,  the  stationer,  without  a  date,  but  probably  in  1578.  Many  edi- 
tions of  the  famous  book  have  been  issued ;  fifteen  are  known,  dated 
between  1579  and  1636,  but  confusion  exists  chiefly  over  the  first 
three. 

Mr.  C.  Warwick  Bond  in  his  recent  edition  of  The  Complete  Works 
of  John  Lyly,  Oxford,  1902,  brings  forward  evidence  to  prove  that 
two  undated  copies  of  Euphues,  one  belonging  to  the  British  Museum 
and  the  other  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  are  all  that  remain  of  the 
first  edition,  whose  date  of  issue  he  sets  at  about  Christmas  time,  1578. 
A  unique  Trinity  College  copy  without  a  date,  he  thinks  was  issued 
about  midsummer  of  the  next  year ;  the  famous  Malone  and  Morley 
copies  of  1579,  he  considers  belong  to  a  third  edition,  issued  at 
Christmas ;  the  edition  dated  1580  would  be  fourth  and  the  copy  from 
which  our  facsimile  was  taken  would  belong  to  a  fifth  edition.  Mr. 
Bond  founds  his  supposition  as  to  the  seasons  when  the  volumes 
appeared  upon  the  following  very  interesting  preface : 
"To  THE  Gentlemen  Readers. 

26 


JOHN    LYLY  27 

"I  Was  driuen  into  a  quandarie  Gentlemen,"  says  Lyly,  "whether 
I  might  fend  this  my  Pamphlet  to  the  Printer  or  to  the  pedler,  I 
thought  it  too  bad  for  the  prefle,  &  to  good  for  the  packe  .  .  .  We 
commonly  fee  the  booke  that  at  Eafler  lyeth  bounde  on  the  Stacioners 
Hall,  at  Christmaffe  to  be  broken  in  the  Haberdafhers  fhop,  which 
fith  it  is  the  order  of  proceeding,  I  am  content  this  Summer  to  haue 
my  dooinges  read  for  a  toye,  that  in  Winter  they  may  be  readye  for 
trafh  .  .  .  Gentlemen  vfe  bookes  as  Gentlewomen  handle  theyr 
flowres,  who  in  the  morning  flicke  the  in  their  heads,  and  at  night 
strawe  them  at  their  heeles.  Cheries  be  fulfome  when  they  be  through 
ripe,  becaufe  they  be  plentie,  and  bookes  be  flale  when  they  be  printed 
in  that  they  be  common.  In  my  minde  Printers  &  Tailers  are  chiefely 
bound  to  pray  for  Gentlemen,  the  one  hath  fo  much  fantafies  to  print, 
the  other  fuch  diuers  fafhions  to  make,  that  the  preffmg  yron  of  the 
one  is  neuer  out  of  the  iyre,  nor  the  printing  prefle  of  the  other  any 
tyme  lieth  ftill  .  .  ." 

The  address  "  To  my  verie  good  friends  the  Gentlemen  Scholers  of 
Oxford  "  first  appeared  with  the  second  edition,  to  which  Lyly  made 
other  additions,  beside  thoroughly  revising  the  text. 

The  title-page  is  bordered  with  a  band  of  type-metal  ornaments. 
Among  the  initial  letters  are  several  of  a  series,  each  letter  of  which 
represents  a  child  at  play.  A  large  tail-piece  is  repeated  several  times, 
and  East's  mark  of  a  black  horse  with  a  white  crescent  on  his  shoulder, 
and  the  motto  Mieulx  vault  mourir  en  vertu  que  vivre  en  Honcte,  is 
here  used  for  the  first  time.  Some  copies  dated  1581  have  Rowland 
Hall's  mark  but  no  printer's  name. 

Mr.  Henry  R.  Plomer  says  of  the  book  in  an  interesting  article  on 
our  printer :  "The  preliminary  matter  is  printed  in  a  very  regular  fount 
of  Roman,  the  text  in  his  ordinary  fount  of  Black  Letter,  and  the 
whole  book  is  distinguished  for  its  clear,  regular,  and  clean  appearance." 

On  July  24,  1579,  the  stationer  Cawood  entered  for  license  a  second 
part  of  Euphues,  which  he  had  promised  at  the  end  of  this  volume  in 
the  following  words : 

"I  Haue  finiflied  the  firil  part  of  Euphues  whome  now  I  lefte  readye 
to  crofle  the  Seas  to  Englande,  if  the  winde  send  him  a  fhorte  cutte 
you  fhall  in  the  feconde  part  heare  what  newes  he  bringeth  and  I  hope 
to  haue  him  retoumed  within  one  Summer  ..." 

The  book  appeared  the  next  year  with  the  title :  ^  Euphues  and  his 
England.  |  Containing  |  his  voyages  and  adventures,  my xed  with  |  fundry 


28  JOHN    LYLY 

pretie  difcourfes  of  honeft  Loue  .  .  .  ^By  lohn  Lyly,  Maifter  |  of  Arte.  | 
Commend  it,  or  amend  it.  |  By  Imprinted  at  London  for  Gabriell  Cawood, 
dwelling  in  |  Paules  Church-yard.  |  1580. 

Edward  Blount,  the  stationer,  who  published  Shakespeare's  folio 
works,  tells  us  in  a  preface  to  Lyly's  Sixe  Court  Comedies,  which  he 
collected  and  William  Stansby  printed  in  1632,  of  the  sensation 
Euphues  created  when  it  appeared.  "Our  Nation,"  he  wrote,  "are 
in  his  (i.e.  Lyly's)  debt,  for  a  new  Enghfli  which  hee  taught  them. 
Euphues  and  his  England  began  firfl,  that  language :  All  our  Ladies 
were  then  his  Scollers ;  And  that  Beautie  in  court,  which  could  not 
Parley  Euphueifme,  was  as  little  regarded,  as  Ihee  which,  now  there, 
fpeakes  not  French." 

Quarto.     Black  letter  and  Roman.    The  fifth  edition. 
Collation  :  A~Z,  in  fours. 


SIR    PHILIP    SIDNEY 

(1554— 1586) 

II.  The  I  Countesse  |  OfPembrokes  |  Arcadia,  |  Written 
By  Sir  Philippe  |  Sidnei.  |  [Coat-of-arms  of  the  Sidney 
family]  London  |  Printed  for  William  Ponfonbie.  |  Anno 
Domini,  1590. 

The  Arcadia  was  begun  in  1580,  and  when  finished,  probably  before 
1583,  was  circulated  in  manuscript  copies  amongst  the  author's  friends. 
That  he  did  not  wish  to  have  it  printed  is  evident  from  his  affection- 
ate dedication  to  his  sister,  where  he  says : 

"  HEre  now  haue  you  (moil  deare,  and  moft.  worthy  to  be  moft 
deare  Lady)  this  idle  worke  of  mine :  which  I  fear  (like  the  Spi- 
ders webbe)  will  be  thought  fitter  to  be  fwept  away,  than  worn  to 
any  other  purpofe.  For  my  part,  in  very  trueth  (as  the  cruell  fath- 
ers among  the  Greekes,  were  woont  to  doo  to  the  babes  they 
would  not  fofler)  I  could  well  find  in  my  harte,  to  caft  out  in 
fome  defert  of  forgetfulnes  this  child,  which  I  am  loath  to  father. 
But  you  defired  me  to  doo  it,  and  your  defire,  to  my  hart  is  an  abfo- 
lute  commandement.  Now,  it  is  done  onehe  for  you,  onely  to  you : 
if  you  keepe  it  to  yourfelfe,  or  to  fuch  friendes,  who  will  weigh  errors 
in  the  ballaunce  of  good  will,  I  hope,  for  the  fathers  fake,  it  will  be 
pardoned,  perchance  made  much  of,  though  in  itfelfe  it  haue  deform- 
ities. For  indeede,  for  feuerer  eyes  it  is  not,  being  but  a  trifle,  and 
that  triflinglie  handled.  Your  deare  felfe  can  best  witnes  the  maner, 
being  done  in  loofe  fheetes  of  paper,  mofl  of  it  in  your  prefence,  the 
refl,  by  fheetes  fent  vnto  you,  as  fafl  as  they  were  done  .  .  .  But  his 
chiefe  fafetie  Ihal  be  the  not  walking  abroad ;  &  his  chiefe  protection, 
the  bearing  the  liuerye  of  your  name ;  which  (if  much  good  will  do 
not  deceaue  me)  is  worthy  to  be  a  fanctuary  for  a  greater  offender." 

And  again  later,  when  he  lay  dying,  reflecting,  as  he  did,  that  all 
things  in  his  former  life  had  "  been  vain,  vain,  vain,"  he  requested 

29 


30  SIR   PHILIP   SIDNEY 

that  the  Arcadia  should  be  burned.  But  he  counted  without  the 
public,  who  in  the  person  of  a  publisher  took  steps  to  make  it  com- 
mon property  the  very  year  of  Sidney's  death.  We  have  this  from 
a  letter  written  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  Sidney's  father-in-law,  by 
Sir  Foulk  Greville,  first  Lord  Brooke,  who  in  his  self-written  epitaph 
styled  himself  "servant  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  councillor  to  King  James, 
and  friend  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney  "  : 

"  S^  this  day,  one  ponsonby,  a  booke-bjmder  in  poles  church-yard, 
came  to  me  and  told  me  that  ther  was  one  in  hand  to  print  S'  Philip 
Sydney's  old  arcadia,  asking  me  yf  it  were  done  with  your  honors  con- 
sent, or  any  other  of  his  frendes?  I  told  him,  to  my  knowledge,  no: 
then  he  aduysed  me  to  give  waminge  of  it,  either  to  the  archbishope 
or  doctor  Cosen,  who  haue,  as  he  says,  a  copy  to  peruse  to  that  end. 

"  S',  I  am  loth  to  renew  his  memory  unto  you,  but  yeat  in  this  I 
must  presume ;  for  I  haue  sent  my  lady,  your  daughter,  at  her  request, 
a  correction  of  that  old  one,  don  4  or  5  years  sinse,  which  he  left  in 
trust  with  me ;  wherof  there  is  no  more  copies,  and  fitter  to  be  re- 
printed than  the  first  which  is  so  common :  notwithstanding,  even  that 
to  how  and  why ;  so  as  in  many  respects,  espetially  the  care  of  print- 
ing of  it ;  so  as  to  be  don  with  more  deliberation." 

Ponsonby  obtained  a  license  to  print  the  book,  under  the  hand  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  August  23,  1588,  but  not  with  the  full 
consent  and  sympathy  of  the  family,  owing,  we  will  hope,  to  a  senti- 
ment of  proper  respect  for  the  poet's  wishes.  There  was  so  much  dis- 
satisfaction with  Ponsonby's  "  adventuring "  that  Collier  thinks  the 
book  may  have  been  called  in  or  suppressed,  a  fact  which  would  ac- 
count for  its  great  rarity.  The  hesitancy,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  overcome  in  course  of  time,  for  the  Countess  herself  edited  the 
work  for  a  later  edition  of  Ponsonby's  publishing. 

No  mark  or  name  of  a  printer  is  given  in  our  copy,  and  Collier, 
when  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  Richard  Field  did  the  work, 
seemed  to  have  been  unaware  of  the  existence  of  the  variation  in  the 
imprint,  which  occurs  in  the  copy  belonging  to  Trinity  College 
Library,  Cambridge,  London,  John  Windet  for  william  Ponsonbie. 
Probably  several  had  a  hand  in  the  printing.  Only  a  close  exami- 
nation of  the  few  existing  copies  could  show  whether  or  not  they  were 
all  issued  at  the  same  time.  We  shall  never  know  by  name  the  "over- 
seer of  the  print,"  who  assumed  the  responsibility  of  arranging  the 
poem,  as  is  told  in  a  note  on  the  verso  of  the  title-page  : 


SIR   PHILIP   SIDNEY  31 

"The  diuifion  and  fumming  up  of  the  Chapters  was  not  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidneis  dooing,  but  aduentured  by  the  ouerfeer  of  the  print,  for 
the  more  eafe  of  the  Readers.  He  therfore  fubmits  himfelfe  to  their 
iudgement,  and  if  his  labour  anfwere  not  the  worthines  of  the  booke, 
defireth  pardon  for  it.  As  alfo  if  any  defect  be  found  in  the  Eclogues, 
which  although  they  were  of  Sir  Phillip  Sidneis  writing,  yet  were  not 
perufed  by  him,  but  left  till  the  worke  had  bene  finifhed,  that  then 
choife  fliould  haue  bene  made,  which  fhould  haue  bene  taken,  and  in 
what  manner  brought  in.  At  this  time  they  haue  bene  chofen  and 
difposed  as  the  ouer-feer  thought  beft." 

Whoever  the  overseer  may  have  been,  whether  in  the  employment 
of  Ponsonby,  Windet,  or  Field,  and  however  unfortunate  the  result 
of  his  literary  judgment,  he  produced  a  book  which  for  beauty  may 
take  its  place  with  the  best  of  the  period.  The  Roman  type  and 
excellent  press-work  distinguish  it  amongst  the  mass  of  inferior  pro- 
ductions. Large  ornamental  initial  letters,  more  or  less  related,  are 
used  at  the  beginning  of  all  the  Books,  while  Book  I  begins  with 
an  especially  fine  allegorical  woodcut  initial  representing  a  crowned 
Tudor  rose.  Justice  with  her  foot  on  Medusa's  head,  and  Peace. 
Head-  and  tail-pieces,  some  of  type  metal  and  some  woodcuts,  are 
used  at  the  beginning  of  the  Books  to  give  added  effect.  At  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Book  III  is  a  panel  made  of  type-metal 
ornaments,  intended  to  hold  the  lines  referred  to  in  the  words : 
"  Vpon  which,  Bafilius  himself  caufed  this  Epitaph  to  be  written." 
These,  however,  owing  to  the  printer's  oversight,  were  never  added. 

In  setting  up  the  title-page,  it  may  be  that  Ponsonby  followed 
Sidney's  hint,  and  so  sought  "  the  chief  protection  "  of  the  name  of 
the  Countess,  and,  not  content  with  the  name  alone,  added  the  coat- 
of-arms  of  the  Sidney  family. 

Quarto.     Roman. 
Collation  :  A-Zz,  in  eights. 


EDMUND    SPENSER 

(1552?— 1599) 

12.  The  Faerie  |  Queene.  |  DIfpofed  into  twelue  books,  | 
Fafhioning  |  XII.  Morall  vertues.  |  [Printer's  mark] 
London  |  Printed  for  William  Ponfonbie.  |    1590. 

On  December  i,  1589,  "  M after  Ponfonbye.  Entered  for  his  Copye, 
a  booke  intytuled  the  fay  rye  Queene  dyspofed  into  xij.  bookes.  &"€.  Auc- 
thoryzed  vnder  thandes  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbery,  and  bothe 
the  wardens  .  .  .  vjl" 

Spenser's  name  not  being  mentioned  and  not  being  printed  on 
the  title-page,  it  would  almost  seem  as  if  he  had  wished  his  book 
to  be  anonymous ;  but  that  was  probably  not  the  case,  because  the 
dedication  on  the  verso  of  the  title,  "To  the  Most  Mightie  And 
Magnificent  Empresse  Elizabeth  .  .  ."  is  signed  by  "  Her  moft  humble 
Seruant,  Ed.  Spenfer."  The  "  Letter  of  the  Authors  Expounding  his 
whole  intention  in  the  Courfe  of  the  worke  ...  To  the  Right  Noble, 
and  Valorous  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  ..."  is  also  signed  "  Ed.  Spenfer," 
and  the  last  two  of  his  poems  addressed  to  various  personages  are 
signed  "  E.  S." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  license  to  print  the  book,  as  well  as  the 
title-page,  refers  to  the  whole  work,  only  three  books  of  which,  treat- 
ing of  the  virtues  Holiness,  Temperance,  and  Chastity,  had  been 
completed  by  the  author  at  this  time. 

Ponsonby  may  be  regarded  as  a  fortunate  man  to  have  had  the 
handling  of  the  works  of  such  authors  as  Greene,  Sidney,  and  Spenser. 
If  his  attempts  to  exploit  the  first  great  English  prose  romance 
were  not  always  successful,  his  relations  with  Spenser  were  more 
satisfactory,  and  this  work  finding  "  a  favorable  passage,"  no  less 
than  ten  other  of  the  poet's  productions  were  issued  over  his  im- 
print. 

32 


EDMUND    SPENSER  33 

The  printer's  name  does  not  appear,  but  the  device  on  the  title- 
page  is  the  mark  of  John  Wolfe,  son  of  Reyner  Wolfe,  a  printer  to 
the  City  of  London,  and  one  of  the  busiest  members  of  the  Stationers' 
Company.  It  was  he  who  printed  The  Shepheard's  Calendar,  for 
John  Harrison  the  younger,  in  1586.  His  use  of  the  Florentine  lily 
is  probably  not  without  significance.  The  first  Italian  book  printed 
in  England  {Petruccio  Ubaldino  La  vita  di  Carlo  Magno  Imperadore, 
1 581),  came  from  his  press,  as  well  as  numerous  translations  of  books 
in  that  tongue ;  and  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  he  may  have  received 
his  idea  for  a  mark  of  a  fieur-de-Iis  "seeding,"  as  Herbert  calls  it, 
from  the  Florentine  lily  of  an  Italian  printer  seen  in  some  of  the 
Italian  books  so  numerous  in  England  at  this  time. 

A  frame  of  printer's  ornaments  surrounds  a  verse  at  the  beginning 
of  each  chapter,  and  there  is  a  rather  clumsy  woodcut,  representing 
Saint  George  and  the  Dragon,  at  the  end  of  the  first  Book,  but  these 
are  the  chief  ornaments  in  the  volume.  This  book,  like  the  Arcadia, 
is  in  the  Roman  type,  and  of  remarkably  good  press-work. 

The  Second  \  Part  Of  The  \  Faerie  Queene.  |  Containing  \  The 
Fourth,  I  Fifth,  \  And  Sixth  Bookes.  \  By  Ed.  Spenfer  \  {Printer's 
mark\  Imprented  at  London  for  William  \  Ponfonby.  1596.  was 
licensed  January  20,  1595-6,  and  was  published  with  a  second  edi- 
tion of  the  first  part,  which  it  was  meant  to  accompany.  The  re- 
maining six  books  never  appeared. 

The  device  on  the  title-page  of  the  second  volume  is  that  of  Thomas 
VautroUier,  a  foreigner  settled  in  London,  whose  stock  passed,  at  his 
death,  to  his  son-in-law,  Richard  Field.  It  seems  clear  that  Field 
printed  the  volume  (VautroUier  did  no  work  after  1588),  although 
Herbert  ascribes  it  to  the  master-printer  Thomas  Creed. 

In  some  early  copies  of  the  first  volume  there  are  blank  spaces  on 
page  332,  which  had  been  left  by  the  printer  to  be  filled  later  with 
Welsh  words  and  then  forgotten.  Other  copies  have  this  omission 
corrected. 

Quarto.     Roman  and  Italic. 
Collation  :  A-Qqa^,  in  eights. 


FRANCIS  BACON,  BARON  VERULAM 

(1561 — 1626) 

13.  Effaies.  |  Religious  Me-  |  ditations.  |  Places  of  perfwa- 
fion  I  and  diffwafion.  Seene  and  allowed.  |  London  | 
Printed  for  Humfrey  Hooper  |  and  are  to  bee  folde  at 
the  blacke  Beare  in  Chaun-  |  eery  lane.  1598.  [Colo- 
phon] Imprinted  at  London  by  John  Windet  for  Hum- 
frey Hooper.     1598. 

This  edition  is  thought  by  some  to  be  rarer  than  the  first,  which 
was  published  by  Hooper,  in  octavo,  in  the  previous  year.  Some 
differences  occur  in  the  spelling,  the  table  of  contents  here  precedes 
"  The  Epistle  Dedicatorie,"  the  Meditationes  Sacra  are  done  into 
English,  and  the  ornaments  used  are  quite  different.  Only  ten  Essays 
were  included  in  these  two  issues,  whereas  the  edition  of  161 2  has 
thirty-eight,  and  that  of  1625,  fifty-eight. 

Hooper,  of  whose  publications  there  are  very  few  examples  existing, 
is  thought  by  Roberts  to  have  been  a  young  publisher  whom  Bacon 
wished  to  help.  John  Windet  was  the  successor  to  John  Wolfe  as 
printer  to  the  City  of  London ;  many  books  came  from  his  press,  but 
few  of  them  of  note. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  peculiarity  of  the  book  is  the  word 
essay,  in  the  sense  of  a  composition  of  moderate  length  on  a  particular 
subject.  With  this  work,  the  word  makes  its  first  appearance  on  the 
title-page  of  an  English  book.  The  first  two  books  of  Montaigne's 
Essais  had  appeared  in  1580,  and  Bacon  was  no  doubt  famiHar  with 
them  as  a  new  style  of  writing,  since  his  brother,  to  whom  he  addressed 
this  volume,  was  a  friend  of  Montaigne.  He  says  in  his  volume  of 
Essays  dedicated  to  Prince  Henry :  "  For  Senacaes  Epistles  .  .  .  are 
but  Essaies  —  that  is  dispersed  Meditations  .  .  .  Essays.  The  word 
is  late,  but  the  thing  is  auncient." 

34 


FRANCIS    BACON  35 

Lord  Bacon's  reasons  for  printing  his  book,  expressed  in  the  signed 
preface  which  accompanied  both  editions,  is  interesting  as  showing 
that  he  was  alive  to  the  piracies  of  the  book-sellers,  and  that  he  knew 
how  to  meet  the  difficulty  in  a  sensible  manner. 

"  To  M.  Anthony  Bacon  his  deare  brother. 
Louing  &  beloued  Brother,  I  doe  nowe  like  fome  that  haue  an 
Orcharde  ill  neighbored,  that  gather  their  fruit  before  it  is  ripe,  to  pre- 
uent  flealing.  Thefe  fragments  of  my  conceites  were  going  to  print : 
To  labour  the  flaie  of  them  had  bin  troublefome,  and  fubiect  to  inter- 
pretation; to  let  them  pafle  had  beene  to  adueture  the  wrong  they 
might  receyue  by  ontrue  Coppies,  or  by  fome  garnifhment,  which  it 
might  pleafe  any  that  fhould  fet  them  forth  to  beflowe  oppon  them. 
Therefore  I  helde  it  befl  difcretion  to  publifh  them  myfelfe  as  they 
paffed  long  agoe  from  my  pen  without  any  further  difgrace,  then  the 
weakneffe  of  the  Author  ..." 

Duodecimo.     The  second  edition. 
Collation  :  A—E/^,  in  twelves. 


RICHARD    HAKLUYT 

(1552?— 1616) 

14.  The  I  Principal  Navi-  |  Gations,  Voiages,  |  Traffiques 
And  Disco-  |  ueries  of  the  Englifh  Nation,  made  by 
Sea  I  or  ouer-land,  to  the  remote  and  fartheft  di-  |  ftant 
quarters  of  the  Earth,  at  any  time  within  |  the  compaffe 
of  thefe  1 500  .  yeeres :  Deuided  |  into  three  feuerall 
Volumes,  according  to  the  |  pofitions  of  the  Regions, 
whereunto  |  they  were  directed.  |  [Thirteen  lines] 
And  laftly,  the  memorable  defeate  of  the  Spanifh  huge  | 
Armada,  Anno  1588.  and  the  famous  vi6lorie  |  atchieued 
at  the  citie  of  Cadiz,  1596.  |  are  described.  |  By  Richard 
Hakluyt  Mafter  of  |  Artes,  and  fometime  Student  of 
Chrift-  I  Church  in  Oxford.  |  [Printer's  ornament]  if 
Imprinted  at  London  by  George  |  Bishop,  Ralph  New- 
berie  |  and  Robert  Barker.  |  1598.  [-1600]. 

The  year  1 589  had  seen  the  publication  of  a  small  folio  volume  entitled : 
T/ie  Principall  \  Navigations,  Voia-  \  ges,  And  Discoveries  Of  The  \ 
E7igliJ}i  nation,  made  by  Sea  or  ouer  Land,  \  [  Twenty-seven  lines\  By 
Richard  Hakluyt  Majler  of  Artes,  and  Student  fometime  |  of  Chrifl- 
church  in  Oxford.  |  ^Printer's  ornafneni\  Imprinted  at  London  by 
George  Bishop  |  and  Ralph  Newberie,  Deputies  to  |  Christopher  Barker^ 
Jointer  to  the  Queenes  mofl  excellent  Maieflie.  |  1589. 

The  book  presents  a  handsome  appearance  in  the  matter  of  type 
and  ornament:  the  archer  head-band  appears,  and  there  are  two 
large  pictorial  initials  at  the  beginning  signed  tA.  It  contains  also 
"  one  of  the  befl  generall  mappes  of  the  world  onely,  untill  the  com- 
ming  out  of  a  very  large  and  most  exact  terreflrial  Globe,  collected 
and  reformed  according  to  the  newefl,  fecretest,  and  latefl  dif- 
coueries  .  .  .  compofed  by  M.  Emmerie  MoUineux  of  Lambeth,  a 

36 


RICHARD    HAKLUYT  37 

rare  gentleman  in  his  profeflion  .  .  ."  This  map  was  a  close  copy  of 
one  engraved  by  Francis  Hogenberg  for  Ortelius's  Theatrum  Orbis 
Terrarum,  published  first  in  Antwerp  in  1570.  Like  the  original  it  is 
called  Typus  Orbis  Terrarum^  but  Hogenberg's  name  is  erased,  and 
no  other  appears  in  its  stead. 

This  volume  is  usually  called  the  first  edition  of  the  ampHfied  work 
in  three  volumes,  here  facsimiled,  which  Hakluyt  began  to  issue  nine 
years  later.  The  British  Librarian  of  William  Oldys,  that  "  oddest 
mortal  that  ever  wrote,"  gives  a  full  synopsis  of  the  contents  of  the 
latter  work,  *'  this  elaborate  and  excellent  Collectiori,  which  redounds 
as  much  to  the  Glory  of  the  Englifh  Nation,  as  any  Book  that  ever 
was  pubhfhed  in  it."     He  says : 

"Tho'  the  firfl  Volume  of  this  Collection  does  frequently  appear,  by 
the  Date,  in  the  Title  Page  to  be  printed  in  1599.  the  Reader  is  not 
thence  to  conclude  the  faid  Volume  was  then  reprinted,  but  only  the 
Title  Page,  as  upon  collating  the  Books  we  have  obferved ;  and 
further,  that  in  the  faid  lafl  printed  Title  Page,  there  is  no  mention 
made  of  the  Cadiz  Voyage ;  to  omit  which,  might  be  one  Reafon  of 
reprinting  that  Page :  for  it  being  one  of  the  mofl  profperous  and  hon- 
orable Enterprizes  that  ever  the  Earl  of  Effex  was  ingaged  in,  and  he 
falling  into  the  Queen's  unpardonable  Displeafure  at  this  time,  our 
Author,  Mr,  Hakluyt,  might  probably  receive  Command  or  Direction, 
even  from  one  of  the  Patrons  to  whom  thefe  Voyages  are  dedicated, 
who  was  of  the  contrary  Faction,  not  only  to  fupprefs  all  Memorial  of 
that  Action  in  the  Front  of  this  Book,  but  even  cancel  the  whole  Nar- 
rative thereof  at  the  End  of  it,  in  all  the  Copies  (far  the  greatefl  Part 
of  the  Impreffion)  which  remained  unpublifhed.  And  in  that  caflrated 
Manner  the  Volume  has  defcended  to  Poflerity ;  not  but  if  the  Caf- 
tration  was  intended  to  have  been  concealed  from  us,  the  lall  Leaf  of 
the  Preface  would  have  been  reprinted  alfo,  with  the  like  Omiffion  of 
what  is  there  mentioned  concerning  the  Infertion  of  this  Voyage.  But 
at  lafl,  about  the  middle  of  the  late  King's  Reign,  an  uncaflrated  copy 
did  arife,  and  the  faid  Voyage,  was  reprinted  from  it ;  whereby  many 
imperfect  Books  have  been  made  complete." 

The  cancellation  "in  the  Front"  refers  to  the  title-page.  In  the 
new  page  of  the  castrated  edition  the  clause  "  And  laflly,  the  memor- 
able defeate  of  the  Spanifh  huge  Armada,  Anno  1588.  and  the  famous 
victorie  atchieued  at  the  citie  of  Cadiz,  1596."  is  made  to  read:  "As 
alfo  the  memorable  defeat  of  the  Spanifh  huge  Armada,  Anno  1588."  ; 


i 


38  RICHARD   HAKLUYT 

and  the  date  is  changed  to  1599.  But,  as  Oldys  remarks,  through 
oversight  or  indifference  the  reference  in  the  preface  still  remains  to 
show  that  the  edition  is  doctored,  and  not  a  new  one.  It  reads: 
"An  excellent  difcourfe  whereof,  as  likewife  of  the  honourable 
expedition  vnder  two  of  the  mofl  noble  and  valiant  peeres  of  this 
Realme,  I  meane,  the  renoumed  Erie  of  Effex,  and  the  right  honorable 
the  lord  Charles  Howard,  lord  high  Admirall  of  England,  made  1 596. 
vnto  the  flrong  citie  of  Cadiz,  I  haue  set  downe  a  double  epiphonema  to 
conclude  this  my  firfl  volume  withall  ..."  The  reference  also  remains 
in  "A  Catalogue  of  the  Voyages,"  "39  The  honourable  voyage  to 
Cadiz,  Anno  1596.  [p.]  607."  and  at  page  606  the  catchword  "A 
briefe"  still  bears  witness  to  the  curtailment  of  "A  briefe  and  true 
report  of  the  Honourable  voyage  vnto  Cadiz,  1596."  The  original 
leaves  ended  on  page  619,  with  a  large  woodcut  representing  two 
winged  figures  supporting  a  crown  and  rose.  They  have  been  twice 
reprinted,  but  both  reprints  are  easily  distinguishable  from  the  early 
work. 

The  second  volume  was  issued  by  the  same  printers  in  1599,  and 
the  third  in  1600.  Hakluyt  is  characterized  on  the  title-page  of  the 
first  volume,  as  on  that  of  the  first  edition,  as  "  Master  of  Artes,  and 
sometime  Student  of  Christ-Church  in  Oxford,"  but  in  the  second 
and  third  volumes  he  is  called  "  Preacher,  and  sometime  student  of 
Christ-Church  in  Oxford."  He  had  been  made  rector  of  Wethering- 
sett  in  Suffolk  in  1590. 

In  its  general  make-up,  the  new  work  resembles  the  old  one.  The 
archer  head-bands  have  not  been  used,  and  only  one  of  the  pictorial  ini- 
tials signed  Ji, —  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  Dedication, —  is  retained 
in  volumes  one  and  two.  These  pictorial  initials  belong  to  an  alphabet 
illustrating  stories  from  Greek  mythology.  Mr.  Pollard,  in  a  chapter  on 
JRctorial  and  Heraldic  Initials,  states  that  the  first  appearance  of  any  of 
the  set  known  to  him  occurs  in  a  proclamation  printed  by  Berthelet,  and 
dated  1546.  He  finds  that  a  similar  monogram  was  used  by  Anton 
Sylvius,  who  worked  for  Plantin  from  1550  to  1573,  but  he  is  doubt- 
ful about  ascribing  these  initials  to  that  artist. 

The  first  and  third  volumes  have  the  "The  "  of  the  title  in  a  long 
panel  (made  of  type-metal  ornament  in  the  first  case,  and  a  woodcut 
cartouche  in  the  last  one) ;  the  printer's  ornaments  on  the  title-pages 
of  the  second  and  third  volumes  are  alike,  and  are  the  same  as  that  in 
the  first  edition.  "A  Table  Alphabetical,"  printed  at  the  end  of  the 
first  edition,  was  not  undertaken  for  the  second ;  but  a  new,  engraved 


RICHARD    HAKLUYT  39 

map  of  the  world,  unsigned  and  without  a  title,  is  found  in  some  copies 
of  the  third  volume.    It  was  used  also  in  two  states. 

This  map  is  exceedingly  rare,  and  interest  attaches  to  it  for  two 
reasons.  It  is  the  first  map  of  the  world  engraved  in  England,  on 
Wright's  (Mercator)  projection,  having  been  published  the  year  after 
Wright  had  explained  the  principles  of  the  projection  in  his  Certain 
Errors  in  Navigation.  A  legend  in  a  cartouche  on  the  engraving  says : 
"  Thou  hast  here  gentle  reader  a  true  hydrographical  description  of 
fo  much  of  the  world  as  hath  beene  hetherto  difcouered,  and  is  comma 
to  our  knowledge :  which  we  have  in  fuch  fort  performed,  y'  all 
places  herein  fet  downe,  haue  the  fame  pofitions  and  diflances  that  they 
haue  in  the  globe  ..."  The  second  source  of  interest  is  this :  the 
map  is,  without  much  doubt,  the  one  Shakespeare  referred  to  in  Twelfth 
Night  when  he  made  Maria  say  of  Malvolio,  "  He  does  fmile  his  face 
into  more  lynes  then  is  in  the  new  Mappe,  with  the  augmentation  of 
the  Indies." 

A  curious  error  has  existed  with  regard  to  the  map.  The  reference 
in  the  1589  volume,  already  quoted,  has  been  taken  to  mean  that 
Hakluyt  intended  to  issue  a  map  by  Mohneux  with  that  work,  but, 
that  map  not  being  ready  in  time,  he  used  the  one  from  OrteUus.  What 
more  natural  than  that  the  new  map  in  the  1598  edition  should  be 
supposed  to  be  Molineux's,  now  at  length  finished?  This  was  the 
conclusion  jumped  at,  and  the  plate  is  usually  called  "  Molineux's 
map,"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Hakluyt  did  not  refer  to  Molineux  as  a 
map-maker,  but  as  a  globe-maker.  He  was  a  friend  of  that  rare  gen- 
tleman, and  he  knew  that  the  mathematician  was  at  work  on  a  large 
terrestrial  globe  embodying  all  the  very  latest  geographical  informa- 
tion in  the  most  exact  way,  according  to  Mercator's  projection.  He 
used  the  Ortelius  map  in  his  book  only  until  the  globe  should  be 
ready,  when  it  could  be  easily  adapted  to  the  plane  surface  of  a  map 
by  the  engraver. 

The  globe,  measuring  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  was  issued  in 
1592,  and  is  now  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  Middle  Temple. 

Folio.     Black  letter. 

Collation:  Volume  I,  *,  six  leaves ;  **,  six  leaves ;  A-Fff\,  in 
sixes. 

Volume  II,  *,  eight  leaves ;  A-Ccb,  in  sixes  ;  Aaa-Rrrb,  in  sixes. 

Volume  III,  (A)^  eight  leaves ;  A-I,  in  sixes ;  K,  eight  leaves  ; 
Ij—Cccc,  in  sixes. 


GEORGE   CHAPMAN 

(1559— 1634) 

15.  The  I  Whole  Works  |  Of  |  Homer;  |  Prince  OfPoetts  | 
In  his  Iliads,  and  |  Odyfses.  |  Translated  according  to 
the  Greeke,  |  By  |  Geo :  Chapman.  |  De  Hi :  et  Odiff.  | 
Omnia  ab,  his :  et  in  his  funt  omnia  five  beati  |  Te  de- 
cor eloquij,  |  feu  rerii  pondera  |  tangunt.  Angel :  Pol : 
I  At  London  printed  for  Nathaniell  Butter.  |  William 
Hole  fculp : 

Though  Butter  was  the  publisher  of  Dekker's  Belman  of  London,  and, 
with  John  Busby,  of  Shakespeare's  Lear,  he  is  chiefly  to  be  remem- 
bered for  two  things,  for  his  success  as  a  compiler  and  publisher  of 
pamphlets  of  news, —  a  success  which  entitles  him  to  the  place  of 
father  of  the  London  press  —  and  for  his  connection  with  Chapman. 

In  1609  (?)  Samuel  Macham  brought  out,  in  small  folio  form. 
Homer,  Prince  of  Poetts,  in  Twelve  Bookes  of  his  Iliads,  embellished  with 
an  engraved  title-page  by  William  Hole,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest 
English  engravers  on  copper-plates.  Inflated  with  his  subject,  the 
artist  crowded  the  title  into  a  small  central  panel  the  better  to  present 
his  conception  of  Vulcan,  Apollo,  Achilles,  Hector,  and  Homer,  in  a 
composition  which,  if  topheavy,  was  more  dignified  and  better  drawn 
than  many  of  the  borders  ascribed  to  him. 

Under  date  of  April  8,  161 1,  we  find  in  the  Stationers'  Register 
that  Butter  "  Entered  for  his  Copy  by  consente  of  Samuell  Masham, 
A  Booke  called  Homers  Iliads  in  English  contayning  24  bookes." 
With  his  right  to  print,  he  also  received  the  right  to  use  the  Hole  fron- 
tispiece, which  he  had  reengraved  on  a  larger  scale  for  the  new  book. 
The  date  of  issue  is  not  given,  but  it  could  not  have  been  later  than 
November  6,  1612,  the  date  of  the  death  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  to 

40 


GEORGE    CHAPMAN  41 

whom  the  book  is  dedicated,  and  it  was  probably  pubUshed  soon  after 
the  date  of  copyright.  The  printer's  name  is  also  lacking ;  but  reasons 
exist  for  thinking  that  more  than  one  worked  on  the  book,  and  that 
there  were  several  issues.  There  are  copies  whose  signatures  agree 
with  those  of  the  volumes  of  our  issue,  but  these  are  printed  with 
different  type,  on  poorer  paper,  and  the  initial  letters  and  other  orna- 
ments are  of  a  much  cruder  sort. 

After  Chapman  had  published  his  translation  of  the  Iliad,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  Odyssey ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Iliad,  he  went 
to  press  with  half  of  it  first,  Butter  being  the  publisher.  The  volume 
ends  with  the  words  "  Finis  duodecim  libri  Hom.  Odyff.  Opus  nouem 
dierum,"  and  begins  with  one  of  the  most  charming  and  perfect  title- 
pages  of  the  period,  the  greater  pity  therefore  that  it  is  unsigned.  Its 
composition  shows  the  poet  in  the  midst  of  a  company  of  laurel- 
crowned  spirits,  whose  ethereal  forms  are  expressed  in  stipple,  with 
legends  which  read :  "  Solus  fapit  hie  homo,  Reliqui  vero,"  and  "  Um- 
brae mouentur."  Above,  the  title  is  supported  by  two  cupids,  and  below 
are  seated  figures  of  Athena,  and  Ulysses  with  his  dog.  The  whole 
plate  was  very  delicately  drawn. 

The  remaining  twelve  books  having  been  finished,  we  find  Butter 
entering  the  whole  twenty-four  for  copyright,  November  2,  1614  ;  and, 
although  the  volume  is  not  dated,  it  was  probably  issued  soon  after- 
ward. The  title  reads :  Homer's  Odyssey s.  Tranflated  according  to  y' 
Greeke.  By  George  Chapman  At  Miki  q*^  vino  detraxerit.  Inuida 
Turba  Post  obitum  duplici  foenore  reddet  Honos.  Imprinted  at  London 
by  Rich:  Field,  for  Nathaniell  Butter. 

The  same  engraved  title-page  was  used,  but  its  fine  lines  had  now 
grown  fainter,  the  stippled  shades  seeming  to  justify  the  statement 
in  the  inscription.  The  dedication  to  the  Earl  of  Somerset,  as  it  ap- 
peared with  the  first  twelve  books,  was  somewhat  altered  in  the  open- 
ing lines,  necessitating  the  resetting  of  the  first  page  and  the  consequent 
change  of  the  head-band  and  initial  letter ;  but  the  rest  of  the  first  half 
is  precisely  the  same  as  in  the  first  issue.  The  words  "  Finis,"  etc., 
were  dropped  from  the  end,  and  a  blank  leaf  marks  the  division  of  the 
first  half  from  the  last. 

The  present  book  is  made  up  of  the  complete  Iliad,  and  the  com- 
plete Odyssey,  sewn  together.  The  enterprising  Butter  made  the 
engraved  title  of  the  Iliads  answer  for  the  general  title-page  of  this 
book  also,  only,  of  course,  changing  the  wording  in  the  central  panel. 


42  GEORGE    CHAPMAN 

Some  copies  have  the  engraved  title  of  the  Odyssey,  but  more  lack 
it.  Its  omission  was  probably  due  to  its  having  become  too  faint 
from  continued  use  to  be  of  service.  Butter  added  one  or  two  new 
features  to  some  copies  of  the  volume,  and  among  them  a  fine  large 
portrait  of  Chapman,  which  he  printed  in  a  very  unusual  place,  on  the 
verso  of  the  title-page.  It  represents  the  head  of  the  translator, 
surrounded  by  clouds,  and  bears  on  the  circular  frame  the  inscriptions : 
Haec  est  laurigeri  facies  diuina  Georgi;  Hie  Phcebi  Decus  est;  Phoebi- 
numqz  Deus ;  Georgius  Chapmanus  Homeri  Metaphrastes.  ^ta: 
LVII.  M.DC.XVI ;  Conscium  Evasi Diem.  The  date  of  the  inscrip- 
tion is  usually  given  as  the  date  of  issue  of  the  book.  Below  the 
frame  are  ten  lines  beginning  with  two  quotations,  one  in  Latin,  and 
one  in  English,  and  followed  by  this  interesting  statement :  Eruditorum 
Poetarum  huius  ^ui,  facile  Principi^  Dno  Georgia  Chapman ;  Ifomero 
(velit  nolit  Inuidia)  Rediuiuo.  I.M.  Tessellam  hanc  Xapisngiov.  DD. 
It  would  be  a  gratifying  thing  to  know  the  name  of  the  friend  who 
thus  added  so  much  to  the  embellishment  and  interest  of  the  book. 
Could  it  have  been  John  Marston  ? 

The  engraving  is  ascribed  to  Hole,  though  without  any  very  good 
reason,  except  that  he  had  made  the  title-page  of  the  Iliad,  some  four 
years  earlier.  It  seems  hardly  probable  that  his  awkward  hand  could 
have  drawn  the  title  for  the  Odyssey,  and,  while  the  same  holds  true 
of  the  engraver  of  the  portrait,  a  comparison  of  the  three  plates  per- 
haps would  show  that  Butter  employed  more  than  one  engraver. 

Besides  the  portrait,  our  pubhsher  added  after  the  title-page,  on 
a  separate  leaf,  an  engraved  dedication  "  To  the  Imortall  Memorie,  of 
the  Incomparable  Heroe,  Henrye  Prince  of  Wales,"  who  died  in  1612. 
Two  columns  labelled  "  lUas  "  and  "  Odyssaea,"  bound  with  a  band 
inscribed  "  Musar:  Hercul:  Colum:,"  have  below  them  lines  ending: 

"...  Thow,  dead,  then  ;   I 
Line  deade,  for  giuing  thee  Etemitie 

"Ad  Famam. 

"  To  all  Tymes  future.  This  Tymes  Marck  extend ; 
Homer,  No  Patrone  founde ;  Nor  Chapman,  friend : 
"  Ignotus  nimis  omnibus ; 
Sat  notus,  moritur  fibi :" 


GEORGE    CHAPMAN  43 

This  aflfecting  tribute  precedes  the  other  dedication  to  the  same 
prince,  issued  with  the  IHad  when  it  first  appeared.  Such  constancy 
to  the  memory  of  a  prince,  now  some  years  dead,  and  from  whom 
no  favors  could  be  expected,  argues  well  for  Chapman's  affections ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  one  might  see  in  it  a  reason  for  believing  that 
the  work  was  issued  before  1616. 

Folio. 

Collation  :  Title-page  and  dedication^  2  ll.j  *2,  *3,  2  ll.j  A^-A6, 
A,  5  //./  B—Z,  in  sixes/  Aa—Ff,  in  sixes  j  Gg,  7  ll.j  A^—O,  in  sixes/ 
Ji,  7  11./  S-Z,  in  sixes/  Aor-Hh,  in  sixes /  li,  7  //. 


THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

1 6.  The  I  Holy  |  Bible,  [Two  lines]  H  Newly  tranilated  out 
of  I  the  Originall  Tongues:  and  with  |  the  former 
Tranflations  diligently  |  compared  and  reuifed  by  his  | 
Maieflies  fpeciall  Com- 1  mandement.  |  IT  Appointed  to  be 
read  in  Churches.  |  H  Imprinted  |  at  London  by  Rob- 
ert I  Barker,  Printer  to  the  |  Kings  moft  excellent  | 
Maieftie.  |    Anno  Dom.  1611. 

Few  books  present  greater  difficulties  to  the  bibliographer  than  this, 
the  first  "Authorized"  or  King  James  Version  of  the  Bible.  Many 
copies  bearing  the  same  date,  and  seemingly  alike,  have  distinct 
differences  in  the  text,  in  the  ornamental  head-  and  tail-pieces,  and  in 
the  initial  letters.  But  the  most  striking  difference  lies  in  two  forms 
of  the  title-page.  One  of  these,  a  copper-plate  engraving,  signed  C. 
Boel  fecit  in  Richmont,  represents  an  architectural  framework  having 
large  figures  of  Moses  and  Aaron  in  niches  on  either  side  of  the 
border  and  seated  figures  of  St.  Luke  and  St.  John,  with  their  emblems, 
at  the  bottom :  above  are  seated  figures  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark, 
and  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  holding  the  Agnus  Dei,  while  behind  them 
are  various  saints  and  martyrs.     The  title  reads : 

The  I  Holy  Bible,  |  Conteyning  the  Old  Tejlament,  |  And  The  New.  \ 
Newly  Tranflated  out  of  the  Originall  |  tongues :  &"  with  the  former 
Tranflations  diligently  compared  and  reuifed  by  his  \  Maiesties  fpeciall 
Comandement.  |  Appointed  to  be  read  in  Churches  \  Imprinted  at  London 
by  Robert  \  Barker,  Printer  to  the  Kings  moft  Excellent  Maiestie.  Anno 
Dom.  161 1. 

The  style  of  Boel's  work  is  quite  like  that  of  the  Sadelers,  to  whose 
school  he  belonged,  and  it  resembles  in  its  general  effect  some  of  the 
title-pages  made  by  those  artists  for  Plantin's  famous  Antwerp  press. 

The  other  title-page  is  seen  in  the  facsimile.  It  is  printed  with  a 
woodcut  border  which  represents  above,  the  Evangelists  Matthew  and 

44 


THE   HOLY   BIBLE  45 

Mark,  the  Adonai,  Lamb,  and  Dove  in  cartouches,  while  below  is  found 
St.  Luke  and  St.  John,  the  Lamb  on  the  altar,  and  the  cherub's  head. 
Barker's  ornament.  The  tents  and  shields  of  the  Twelve  Tribes  are 
represented  in  twelve  round  panels  on  the  left  side,  and  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  similarly  framed,  on  the  right.  The  signatures  iL  and  ^ 
are  seen  at  the  bottom  of  the  title  panel.  This  border,  like  the  great 
primer  black  letter  of  the  text,  had  been  previously  used  by  Christopher 
Barker,  in  an  edition  of  the  "Bishops  Bible,"  published  in  1385,  and 
by  Robert  in  1602  ;  afterward,  in  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament 
(Royal  Version)  published  in  161 7,  and  also  in  other  works.  While 
more  finished  in  execution,  the  design  is  similar  in  idea  to  one  often 
used  by  Barker,  notably  in  a  Bible  printed  in  1593,  and  bears  some 
resemblance  to  a  border  found  in  Plantin's  "Great  Bible." 

The  copper-plate  title  is  sometimes  found  with  what  is  called  the 
first  issue  of  the  work,  sometimes  with  the  second,  and  sometimes 
with  the  editions  of  161 3  and  161 7.  It  has  been  suggested  that  it 
was  intended  to  be  used  with  the  woodcut  border  always  found  with 
the  New  Testament  in  both  issues,  and  usually  ascribed  to  the  sec- 
ond, although  "  there  is  no  gi'ound  for  supposing  that  it  was  always 
issued  with  it."  That  Boel  took  the  motive  of  the  tents  and  shields 
of  the  Tribes  for  a  minor  detail  in  his  border,  is  a  point  worthy  of 
notice  because  this  fact  might,  with  some  reason,  be  used  to  prove 
that  inasmuch  as  his  engraving  was  made  some  time  after  the  un- 
known wood-engraver's  border,  it  could  hardly  have  appeared  with 
the  first  issue. 

We  quote  the  following  from  W.  I.  Loftie's  A  Century  of  Bibles  : 
"Mr.  Fry  has  compared  together  70  copies  of  the  Bible  of  161 1. 
By  observing  how  many  of  them  were  exactly  alike  he  was  able  to 
determine  their  order  of  publication.  Twenty-three  copies  were  found 
to  present  the  same  peculiarities.  Two  only  varied  from  the  25  and 
from  each  other,  in  8  leaves,  2  in  one  and  6  in  the  other.  Of  the 
remaining  45,  40  were  mixed  with  leaves  from  other  editions,  but  38 
contained  leaves  of  the  same  edition.  Mr.  Fry's  conclusions  were  as 
follows:  — One  issue  is  unmixed  except  2  copies  in  25  :  the  other  is 
made  up  (i)  with  reprints,  (2)  with  parts  of  the  first  issue,  (3)  with 
preliminary  leaves  from  3  other  editions :  he  therefore  infers  that  the 
two  issues  were  distinct  and  that  the  issue  which  presented  the  fewest 
instances  of  admixture  was  the  first.  His  conclusions  seem  unassail- 
able ;  it  is  therefore  assumed  to  be  proved  in  this  list,  that  the  issue 


46  THE   HOLY   BIBLE 

of  which  he  examined  25  copies  so  nearly  aUke,  is  the  first,  and  is 
entitled  to  the  honour  of  being  called  the  Editio  Princeps  of  the  version." 

The  chief  differences  in  the  collation  of  what  is  called  the  second 
issue  with  the  first  are  these:  "The  fifth  leaf  is  Sig.  B.  in  the  pre- 
liminary matter:  Kalendar  C,  C2,  C3,  and  followers.  In  the  first 
page  of  the  Dedication  OE  is  printed  for  OF  and  in  the  eighth  line 
CHKIST  for  CHRIST.  In  the  'Names  and  order  of  the  Bookes' 
there  are  three  lines  printed  in  red:  I  Chronicles,  is  misprinted  I 
Corinthians,  and  II  Chronicles,  II  Corinthians.  The  chief  errors 
of  the  first  issue  are  corrected,  but  the  repetition  in  Ezra  iii.  5,  re- 
mains. Exodus  ix.  13,  Let  my  people  goe  that  they  may  ferve  thee,7^r 
serve  me.  S.  Matthew  xxvi.  36,  Then  commeth  Judas  with  them  unto 
a  place  called  Gethfemane,  for  Then  cometh  Jefus.  The  initial  P. 
in  Psalm  112,  contains  a  woodcut  of  Walsingham's  crest." 

Robert  Barker's  name  calls  for  more  than  passing  notice,  since  he 
it  was  who,  more  than  any  one  else  after  the  forty-seven  translators, 
was  responsible  for  the  production  of  the  Authorized  Version.  On 
January  3,  1599,  the  court  of  assistants  of  the  Stationers'  Company 
recognized  the  letter  patent  of  Queen  Elizabeth  granting  Robert  Bar- 
ker the  reversion  for  life,  after  his  father's  death,  of  the  office  of 
Queen's  Printer,  with  the  right  of  printing  English  Bibles,  Books  of 
Common  Prayer,  statutes  and  proclamations.  Christopher  Barker, 
the  father,  who  was  also  Queen's  Printer,  made  an  interesting  report 
in  December,  1582,  on  the  printing  patents  which  had  been  granted 
from  1 558-1 582,  and  in  it  he  speaks  of  his  own  rights.  Mr.  Edward 
Arber,  in  quoting  the  report,  calls  it  a  masterly  summary,  whose  im- 
portance and  authority  as  a  graphic  history  of  Enghsh  printing,  it 
would  be  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate.  In  "A  note  of  the  offices 
and  other  speciall  licenses  for  printing,  graunted  by  her  maiestie  to 
diuerse  persons;  with  a  coniecture  of  the  valuation"  he  says:  "Myne 
owne  office  of  her  Maiesties  Printer  of  the  English  tongue  gyven  to 
Master  Wilkes,  (and  which  he  had  bought)  is  abbridged  of  the  cheefest 
comodities  belonging  to  the  office,  as  shall  hereafter  appeare  in  the 
Patentes  of  Master  Seres  and  Master  Daye :  but  as  it  is  I  haue  the 
printing  of  the  olde  and  newe  testament,  the  statutes  of  the  Realme, 
Proclamations,  and  the  booke  of  common  prayer  by  name,  and  in 
generall  wordes,  all  matters  for  the  Churche." 

If  the  monopoly  of  printing  the  Bible  brought  its  gains  it  also 
brought  its  risks.  Christopher  Barker  in  his  report  goes  on  to  speak 
of  this : 


THE    HOLY    BIBLE  47 

"The  whole  bible  together  requireth  so  great  a  somme  of  money  to 
be  employed,  in  the  imprinting  thereof;  as  Master  Jugge  kept  the 
Realme  twelve  yere  withoute,  before  he  Durst  adventure  to  print  one 
impression :  but  I,  considering  the  great  somme  I  paide  to  Master 
Wilkes,  Did  (as  some  haue  termed  it  since)  gyve  a  Desperate  ad- 
venture to  imprint  fouer  sundry  impressions  for  all  ages,  wherein  I 
employed  to  the  value  of  three  thousande  pounde  in  the  term  of  one 
yere  and  a  halfe,  or  thereaboute :  in  which  tyme  if  I  had  died,  my 
wife  and  children  had  ben  vtterlie  vndone,  and  many  of  my  frendes 
greatlie  hindered  by  disbursing  round  sommes  of  money  for  me,  by 
suertiship  and  other  meanes  ..." 

Robert  was  not  without  a  like  experience.  The  King,  it  is  claimed, 
never  paid  a  penny  towards  the  great  work.  Indeed,  William  Ball, 
writing  in  1651,  says:  "I  conceive  the  sole  printing  of  the  bible,  and 
testament,  with  power  of  restraint  in  others,  to  be  of  right  the  propriety 
of  one  Matthew  Barker,  citizen  and  stationer  of  London,  in  regard 
that  his  father  paid  for  the  emended  or  corrected  translation  of  the 
bible,  3,500  1. :  by  reason  whereof  the  translated  copy  did  of  right 
belong  to  him  and  his  assignes." 

Whether  the  great  expense  connected  with  its  production  ruined 
him,  or  whether,  as  Mr.  Plomer  suggests,  he  had  been  living  be- 
yond his  means.  Barker's  last  days  were  involved  in  financial  diffi- 
culties, and  he  died  in  the  King's  Bench  prison. 

Some  of  the  ornament  in  the  book,  particularly  that  used  with  the 
coat-of-arms  of  the  King,  the  genealogical  tables,  the  map,  and  some 
few  head-bands  and  initial  letters,  again  recall  the  work  done  for 
Plantin,  and  lead  us  to  think  that  that  great  printer's  books  had  not 
been  without  their  influence  upon  the  Barkers.  The  Tudor  rose,  the 
thistle,  harp  and  fleur-de-lis  are  combined  in  different  ways  in  initials 
and  head-bands ;  the  head-band  of  the  archers,  which  was  afterward 
used  in  the  folio  edition  of  Shakespeare's  works,  and  is  found  in  many 
other  books,  appears ;  and  a  large  number  of  unrelated  and  common- 
place initials  and  type-metal  head-bands  bring  to  mind  the  fact  that 
Barker  had  come  into  the  possession  of  material  formerly  belonging  to 
John  Day  and  Henry  Bynneman. 

Folio.     Black  letter.     Double  columns. 

Collation:  A,  six  leaves j  B,  two  leaves j  C,  one  leafj  Az—Adj 
D,  four  leaves  J  A-C,  in  sixes;  two  leaves  without  signatures  y  A-Ccccc6, 
in  sixes  J   A—Aa6,  in  sixes. 


BENJAMIN   JONSON 

(1573?— 1637) 

17.  The  I  Workes  |  Of  |  Beniamin  Jonson  |  — neque  me  ut 
miretur  turba  |  laboro:    Contentus  paucis  lectoribus.  | 
Imprinted  at  |  London  by  |  Will  Stansby  |  An°  D.  16 16. 

This  book,  especially  as  we  see  it  in  the  copies  printed  on  large 
paper,  is  a  handsome  specimen  of  typography.  It  reflects  great  credit 
upon  its  printer,  Stansby,  who  was  an  apprentice  and  then  successor 
to  John  Windet,  and  himself  a  master  printer.  Such  work  entitles  him 
to  a  front  rank  among  the  printers  of  the  reign  of  James  I. 

Jonson  is  said  to  have  prepared  the  plays  for  the  press,  himself,  and 
one  or  two  matters  of  editing,  which  seem  unusually  careful  when  com- 
pared with  other  folio  collections,  certainly  appear  to  show  the  au- 
thor's hand.  At  the  end  of  each  play,  for  instance,  is  a  statement  tell- 
ing when  it  was  first  acted,  and  by  whom,  whether  the  king's  or  the 
queen's  servants.  The  names  of  the  actors  are  also  given,  as  well  as 
the  "allowance  ".  The  volume  embraces  nine  plays,  and  Epigrammes, 
The  Forest,  Entertaynements,  Panegyre,  Mofques  and  Barriers.  There 
is  no  introductory  note  by  the  printer,  and  we  are  not  told  how  Stansby 
came  into  the  right  to  print  those  plays  which  had  been  previously 
issued  by  other  printers  or  publishers. 

In  some  copies  all  of  the  plays  have  separate  printed  titles,  while  in 
others  there  are  one,  two,  or  more  wood-cut  borders  showing  a  lion 
and  a  unicorn,  a  Hly,  rose  and  thistle,  and  a  grape-vine  twined  around 
columns  at  the  side. 

All  of  the  works  not  included  in  the  first  were  intended  for  a  second 
volume,  which,  however,  did  not  appear  until  after  Jonson's  death,  in 
1640,  when  it  was  printed  for  Richard  Meighen,  the  bookseller,  by 
Bernard  Alsop  and  Thomas  Fawcet.  The  title  reads :  The  Workes  of 
Benjamin  Jonson.      The  second  volume  Co?itaining  these  Playes,    Viz. 

48 


BENJAMIN   JONSON  49 

I  Bartholomew  Fayre.  2  The  Staple  of  Newes.  3  The  Divell  is  an 
Asse.  .  .  .  This  title,  it  will  be  seen,  mentions  only  three  plays,  which 
are  thought  to  have  been  issued  somewhat  earlier  than  1 640,  perhaps  as 
a  supplement  to  the  first  volume.  The  book,  as  it  is  usually  bound, 
however,  contains  three  more  plays  and  a  fragment  of  a  fourth. 

There  are  variations  in  the  imprint  of  the  first  volume,  some  read- 
ing, London,  Tinted  by  William  Stansby,  and  again  others,  London 
printed  by  W.  Stansby,  and  are  to  be  fould  by  Rich:  Meighen.  The 
imprints  of  the  large  paper  copies  in  the  British  Museum  and  Huth 
Hbraries  both  read  like  that  of  the  copy  facsimiled.  The  large 
paper  copies,  it  should  be  noted,  are  on  whiter  and  finer  paper  of  an 
entirely  diflFerent  water-mark.  The  copies  with  Meighen's  name  show 
traces  of  the  erasure  of  our  form ;  a  fact  leading  to  the  supposition 
that  they  are  later  in  issue.  This  matter  is  complicated,  however,  by 
certain  striking  variations  in  the  text  itself.  The  last  two  pages  of 
Meighen's  copies,  containing  The  Golden  Age,  show  a  transposition 
of  parts  affecting  the  whole  literary  value  of  the  ending  of  the  masque. 

Mr.  Walter  Wilson  Greg,  in  his  List  of  English  Plays,  1900,  gives 
the  Stansby-Meighen  copies  the  place  of  the  first  issue,  caHing  the 
Stansby  copies  a  reissue,  with  the  imprint  reengraved. 

It  seems  reasonable  to  suppose,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  the 
seller  of  the  second  volume  also,  that  Meighen  became  connected 
with  Stansby  after  the  first  copies  of  the  first  volume  were  published. 
The  appearance  of  his  name  in  the  imprint  of  Volume  I.  would  mark 
the  beginning  of  such  a  partnership ;  and  this  partnership  would  nat- 
urally be  continuous,  and  not  interrupted,  as  it  would  appear  to  be  if 
copies  bearing  Stansby's  name  alone  came  after  the  Stansby-Meighen 
imprint,  and  before  the  1640  volume. 

"  GuHel  Hole  fecit "  is  signed  to  the  elaborate  title-page  engraved 
on  copper.  This  monumental  structure,  with  its  representations  of 
Tragicomoedia,  Satyr,  Pastor,  Tragoedia,  Comoedia,  Theatrum,  Plau- 
strum,  and  Visorium,  shows  such  a  considerable  knowledge  of  Roman 
antiquities  that  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  Jonson  himself  may  have 
had  something  to  do  with  the  making  of  it.  A  similar  thought  arises 
in  looking  at  the  pages  engraved  by  Hole  for  Chapman's  Homer, 
and  one  would  like  to  know  how  far  that  author,  steeped  in  his 
Classics,  influenced  the  engraver.  It  may  be  a  fair  speculation,  how 
far  Jonson  and  Chapman  may  have  influenced  the  development  of 
book  illustration. 


50  BENJAMIN   JONSON 

It  is  a  point  worthy  of  notice  that  the  execution  of  the  figures  in 
this  engraving  is  decidedly  inferior  to  that  of  the  Chapman  title. 

Gerard  Honthorst's  portrait  of  Jonson,  engraved  by  Robert 
Vaughan,  whose  frontispieces  and  portraits  are  found  in  many  books 
of  the  period,  is  inserted  in  this  copy.  The  engraving  was  probably 
issued,  in  its  first  state,  as  a  separate  print.  In  a  second  state  it  was 
prefixed  to  the  second  edition  of  the  first  volume.  Printed  by  Richard 
Bijhop,  and  are  to  be  fold  by  Andrew  Crooke^  in  1640. 

The  famous  lines, 

"  O  could  there  be  an  art  found  out  that  might 
Produce  his  shape  soe  lively  as  to  Write," 

follow  eight  lines  of  Latin,  beneath  the  oval  frame. 

Folio. 

Collation:  Portrait  and  title-page  ^  2  leaves;  A-Qqqq\,  in  sixes. 


ROBERT   BURTON 

(1577— 1640) 

18.  The  I  Anatomy  Of  |  Melancholy,  |  [Twelve  lines].  By  | 
Democritus  Junior.  |  With  a  Satyricall  Preface,  conducing 
to  I  the  following  Difcourfe.  |  [Quotation]  At  Oxford,  | 
Printed  by  lohn  Lichfield  and  lames  |  Short,  for  Henry 
Cripps.  I  Anno  Dom.  162 1. 

In  the  preface,  the  author  tells  why  he  used  the  pseudonym  "  Democritus 
Junior."  Democritus,  he  says,  as  described  by  Hippocrates  and  Dio- 
genes Laertius,  was  "  a  little  wearyilh  olde  man,  very  melancholy  by 
nature,  averfe  from  company  in  his  latter  times,  and  much  giuen  to 
folitarineffe,"  who  undertook  to  find  the  seat  of  melancholy.  ^'Democ- 
ritus Junior  is  therefore  bold  to  imitate,  and  becaufe  he  left  it  un- 
perfect,  to  profecute  and  finifh,  in  this  Treatife."  In  "  The  Conclufion 
of  the  Author  to  the  Reader,"  three  leaves  at  the  end  of  the  volume, 
signed  "Robert  Burton,"  and  dated  "From  my  Studie  in  Chrift 
Church,  Oxon,  Decemb  5.  1620,"  he  says: 

"  The  lafl  Section  Ihall  be  mine,  to  cut  the  firings  of  Democritus 
vifor,  to  vnmafke  and  fhew  him  as  he  is  .  .  .  Democritus  began  as  a 
Prologue  to  this  Trage-comedie,  but  why  doth  the  Author  end,  and 
act  the  Epilogue  in  his  owne  name?  I  intended  at  firfl  to  haue  con- 
cealed my  felfe,  but  fecunde  cogitationes  &c.  for  fome  reafons  I  haue 
altered  mine  intent,  and  am  willing  to  fubfcribe  .  .  ." 

Later  editions,  and  there  were  eight  during  Burton's  lifetime,  omit 
the  conclusion,  and  show  other  alterations.  The  success  of  the  book, 
as  may  be  seen  from  this  large  number  of  editions,  was  great.  Wood 
says  that  Cripps,  the  bookseller,  made  a  fortune  out  of  the  sale  of  it, 
yet  he  received  only  a  half  share  of  the  profits ;  the  other  half,  be- 
longing to  the  author,  was  made  over  by  him  in  his  will  to  members 
of  the  college  and  to  various  Oxford  friends.     "  If  anie  bookes  be 

51 


52  ROBERT   BURTON 

lefte  lett  my  executors  dispose  of  them,  with  all  such  bookes  as  are 
written  with  my  owne  handes,  and  half  my  Melancholy  copie,  for 
Crips  hath  the  other  halfe." 

In  course  of  time  the  Anatomy  was  almost  forgotten,  and  Lowndes 
tells  us  it  owes  its  revival  to  Dr.  Johnson,  who  observed  that  it  "  was 
the  only  book  that  ever  took  him  out  of  bed  two  hours  sooner  than 
he  wished  to  rise." 

Lichfield  and  Short  were  university  printers  whose  press  will  be 
chiefly  remembered  in  connection  with  the  production  of  this  master- 
piece. The  book  is  ornamented  with  a  few  type-metal  head-  and 
tail-pieces,  and  a  large  initial  and  a  woodcut  head-band  at  the  be- 
ginning. 

Quarto. 

Collation:  a-f/[^  in  eights ;  A-Dddi^^  in  eights. 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 
(1564— 1616) 

19.  M^  William  |  Shakespeares  |  Comedies,  |  Histories,  &  | 
Tragedies.  |  Publifhed  according  to  the  True  Originall 
Copies.  I  [Portrait]  London  |  Printed  by  Ifaac  laggard, 
and  Ed.  Blount.   1623. 

The  bibliographical  history  of  this  most  famous  book  has  been  written 
so  completely  by  Mr.  Sidney  Lee  that  little  remains  to  be  said.  The 
following  notes  aim  only  at  recounting  the  facts  suggested  by  a  read- 
ing of  the  title-page. 

Venus  and  Adonis,  printed  in  1 593,  and  Lucrece,  printed  in  1 594,  were 
the  only  works  of  Shakespeare  published  during  his  Hfetime  with  his 
consent  and  cooperation ;  but  sixteen  of  his  plays  were  printed  in 
quarto  size,  by  various  publishers,  without  his  permission. 

The  plays  here  collected,  in  folio  form,  are  thirty-six  in  number, 
and  include  sixteen  hitherto  unpublished, — all  the  plays,  in  fact, 
except  Pericles.  John  Heming  and  Henry  Condell,  friends  and  fellow- 
actors  of  the  dramatist,  were  professedly  responsible  for  the  edition, 
as  appears  in  their  dedication  to  the  Earls  of  Pembroke  and  Mont- 
gomery : 

"...  that  what  delight  is  in  them,  may  be  euer  your  L.L.  the  reputa- 
tion his,  b'  the  faults  ours,  if  any  be  committed,  by  a  pajrre  fo  carefull 
to  fhew  their  gratitude  both  to  the  lining,  and  the  dead  ..."  But 
the  chief  part  of  the  real  editorship  is  thought  to  have  devolved  upon 
the  publisher,  Edward  Blount  of  The  Bear,  Paul's  Churchyard,  one  of 
the  firm  pecuniarily  responsible  for  the  enterprise.  His  name  and 
that  of  Isaac  Jaggard,  the  printer,  appear  upon  the  title-page,  as  the 
hcensed  printers,  but  in  the  colophon  we  read  that  the  book  was 

S3 


54  WILLIAM    SHAKESPEARE 

"printed  at  the  charges"  of  WiUiam  Jaggard,  printer  to  the  City  of 
London,  and  father  to  Isaac,  Ed.  Blount,  '*  I.  Smithweeke,"  or  Smeth- 
wick,  bookseller  under  the  Dial,  in  St.  Dunstan's  Churchyard,  and 
William  Aspley,  bookseller  of  The  Parrots,  Paul's  Churchyard. 

The  "  true  originall  copies  "  were  probably  found  in  the  sixteen  un- 
authorized quarto  volumes,  previously  printed,  the  playhouse  or 
prompt-copies,  and  in  transcripts  of  plays  in  private  hands.  Heming 
and  Condell  touch  on  this  matter  in  their  address  "  To  the  great  Va- 
riety of  Readers " :  "  It  had  bene  a  thing,  we  confeffe,  worthie  to 
haue  bene  wiflied,  that  the  Author  himfelfe  had  liu'd  to  haue  fet 
forth,  and  ouerfeen  his  owne  writings ;  But  fince  it  hath  bin  ordain'd 
otherwife,  and  he  by  death  departed  from  that  right,  we  pray  you  do 
not  envie  his  Friends,  the  office  of  their  care,  and  paine,  to  haue  col- 
lected &  publifti'd  them ;  and  fo  to  haue  publifti'd  them,  as  where 
(before)  you  were  abus'd  with  diuerfe  flolne,  and  furreptitious  copies, 
maimed,  and  deformed  by  the  frauds  and  flealthes  of  iniurious 
impollors,  that  expofed  them ;  even  thofe  are  now  offer'd  to  your  view 
cur'd,  and  perfect  of  their  limbes ;  and  all  the  reft,  abfolute  in  their 
numbers  as  he  conceiued  the." 

The  edition,  as  published,  is  thought  to  have  numbered  five  hun- 
dred copies.  About  two  hundred  are  now  known,  but  of  these  less 
than  twenty  are  in  perfect  condition.  The  price  of  the  volume  when 
issued  was  one  pound,  and  the  highest  price  so  far  paid  is  seventeen 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds. 

The  book  is  not  a  fine  specimen  of  typography ;  it  contains  numer- 
ous errors  of  all  kinds,  and  the  printer's  ornaments  are  all  such  as  are 
frequently  met  with  in  books  issued  before  and  after  this  date.  This 
is  especially  and  strikingly  true  of  the  large  head-band  of  the  archers 
which  we  have  already  noticed  in  the  Bible  of  i6ii,  and  of  the  large 
tail-piece  used  after  twenty-five  of  the  plays.  The  other  head-pieces 
and  initial  letters  are  of  commonplace  character,  and  show  much 
wear.  The  portrait,  too,  by  Martin  Droeshout,  a  young  Flemish 
artist, 

"  Wherein  the  Grauer  had  a  ftrife 
With  Nature,  to  out-doo  the  hfe : " 

as  Jonson  assures  us  in  his  famous  verses  "  To  the  Reader,"  is,  as 
might  be  expected,  hard  and  stiff,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  done  from 
a  painting  that  has  more  claims  to  be  considered  "  from   the  life  " 


WILLIAM    SHAKESPEARE  55 

than  any  other.     With  all  its  technical  faults,  it  "is  intrinsically  the 
most  valuable  volume  in  the  whole  range  of  English  literature." 

Folio. 

Collation  :  One  leaf  without  signature;  A, eight  leaves;  A—Z^  Aa—Cc2, 
in  sixes;  a,  two  leaves;  Aa^—Aa6,  b—g,  in  sixes;  gg,  eight  leaves;  h—x, 
in  sixes;  ^,  ^^,  in  sixes;  jj^^,  one  leaf;  aa—ff,  in  sixes;  gg,  two  leaves; 
gg-zz,  aaa—bbb,  in  sixes. 


JOHN   WEBSTER 

(1580?— 1625?) 

20.  The  I  Tragedy  |  Of  The  Dutchesse  |  Of  Malfy.  |  As  it 
was  Prefented  priuatly,  at  the  Black —  |  Friers ;  and 
publiquely  at  the  Globe,  By  the  |  Kings  Maiefties  Ser- 
uants.  I  The  perfect  and  exact  Coppy,  with  diuerfe  | 
things  Printed,  that  the  lengths  of  the  Play  would  |  not 
beare  in  the  Prefentment.  |  Written  by  John  Webfter.  | 
[Quotation]  |  London :  |  Printed  by  Nicholas  Okes, 
for  lohn  |  Waterson,  and  are  to  be  fold  at  the  |  figne  of 
the  Crowne,  in  Paules  |  Church-yard,  1623. 

The  play  was  first  acted  about  161 2. 

A  list  of  the  actors'  names  is  given  on  the  verso  of  the  title-page, 
and  among  them  stands  out  that  of  Richard  Burbage,  who  created 
the  part  of  the  Duke.  The  part  of  the  Duchess  was  played  by  a  boy 
named  R.  Sharpe. 

It  is  the  only  play  of  Webster's  presented  on  the  modem  stage. 
Miss  Glyn  played  in  it  in  185 1,  and  Miss  May  Rorke  in  1892. 

The  first  edition  is  called  by  Dyce,  the  most  correct  of  the  quartos. 

Quarto. 

Collation  :  A-N,  in  fours.     Without  pagination. 


56 


PHILIP    MASSINGER 

(1583— 1640) 

21.  A  New  Way  To  Pay  |  Old  Debts  |  A  Comoedie  |  As  it 
hath  beene  often  acted  at  the  Phoe-  |  nix  in  Drury-Lane, 
by  the  Queenes  |  Maiefties  feruants.  |  The  Author.  | 
Philip  Massinger.  |  [Printer's  mark]  London,  |  Printed 
by  E.  P.  for  Henry  Seyle,  dwelling  in  S.  |  Pauls  Church- 
yard, at  the  figne  of  the  |  Tygers  head.  Anno.  M.DC.  | 
XXXIII. 

This  comedy  retained  its  popularity  longer  than  any  other  of  Massin- 
ger's  plays,  and  has  often  been  revived  upon  the  modem  stage. 

"E.  P."  was  Elizabeth  Piuslowe,  the  widow  of  George  Purslowe, 
who  this  year  began  to  carry  on  "at  the  east  end  of  Christ  church" 
the  business  followed  there  by  her  husband  since  16 14.  The  printer's 
mark  is  the  one  used  by  the  famous  family  of  French  printers,  the 
Estiennes. 

Seile,  whose  labors  covered  a  period  of  twenty  years,  was  one  of  the 
many  publishers  of  Massinger's  books. 

Quarto. 

Collation  :  A-M2,  in  fours.     Without  pagination. 


57 


JOHN    FORD 

(1586— 1639) 

22.  The  I  Broken  |  Heart.  |  A  Tragedy.  |  Acted  |  By  the 
Kings  Majeflies  Seruants  |  at  the  priuate  Houfe  in  the  | 
Black- Friers.  |  Fide  Honor.  |  [Printer's  ornament] 
London :  |  Printed  by  I.  B.  for  Hugh  Beeston,  and  are 
to  I  be  fold  at  his  Shop,  neere  the  Caftle  in  |  Corne-hill 

The  words  "  Fide  Honor  "  are  an  anagram  of  Ford's  name.     Entered 
on  the  Stationers'  Register  March  28,  1633. 

Quarto. 

Collation:  A,  three  leaves  ;  B-K,  in  fours.      Without  pagination. 


58 


23- 


CHRISTOPHER   MARLOWE 

(1564— 1593) 

The  Famous  |  Tragedy  |  Of  |  The  Rich  lew  |  Of 
Malta.  I  As  It  Was  Playd  |  Before  The  King  And  | 
Queene,  In  His  Majesties  |  Theatre  at  White- Hall,  by 
her  Majefties  |  Servants  at  the  Cock-pit.  |  Written  by 
Christopher  Mario.  |  [Printer's  ornament]  London ;  | 
Printed  by  I.  B.  for  Nicholas  Vavafour,  and  are  to  be 
fold  I  at  his  Shop  in  the  Inner-Temple,  neere  the  | 
Church.     1633. 

Marlowe  probably  wrote  the  play  not  earlier  than  1588,  because  the 
line  in  the  opening  speech  of  Machevill,  "And  now  the  Guize  is 
dead,"  refers  to  the  Due  de  Guise,  the  organizer  of  the  Massacre  of 
Saint  Bartholomew,  who  died  in  that  year.  The  tragedy  was  acted 
many  times  before  it  was  entered  in  the  Stationers'  Register  by  the  two 
publishers,  Nicholas  Ling  and  Thomas  Millington,  in  1594;  but  for 
some  reason  it  was  not  printed  even  then.  When  finally  issued  in  the 
form  shown  here,  it  was  under  the  editorship  of  Thomas  Heywood, 
the  dramatist,  who  explains  his  connection  with  the  work  in  his  dedi- 
cation to  Thomas  Hammon : 

"  This  Play,  compofed  by  fo  worthy  an  Authour  as  Mr.  Mario ; 
and  the  part  of  the  Jew  prefented  by  fo  vnimitable  an  Actor  as  Mr. 
AUin,  being  in  this  later  Age  commended  to  the  Stage :  As  I  vfher'd 
it  into  the  Court,  and  prefented  it  to  the  Cock-pit,  with  thefe  Pro- 
logues and  Epilogues  here  inferted,  fo  now  being  newly  brought  to 
the  preffe  I  was  loth  it  fhould  be  publifhed  without  the  ornament  of 
an  epistle  ..." 

Quarto. 

Collation:  A— K2,  in  fours.      Without  pagination. 

59 


GEORGE    HERBERT 
(1593— 1643) 

24.  The  I  Temple.  |  [Four  lines]  By  M'  George  Her- 
bert. I  [Quotation]  Cambridgl  |  Printed  by  Thorn. 
Buck,  I  and  Roger  Daniel,  printers  |  to  the  Univerfitie. 
I  1633. 

Izaak  Walton  wrote  the  well-known  account  of  the  circumstances 
connected  with  the  printing  of  The  Temple.  He  tells  how  Herbert, 
upon  his  death-bed,  received  a  visit  from  a  Mr.  Edmond  Duncon,  and 
how  he  confided  to  him  the  manuscript  to  be  delivered  to  Nicholas 
Ferrar  of  Little  Gidding.     These  are  his  words : 

"...  Having  said  this,  he  did,  with  so  sweet  a  humility  as 
seemed  to  exalt  him,  bow  down  to  Mr.  Duncon,  and  with  a  thoughtful 
and  contented  look,  say  to  him,  '  Sir,  I  pray  deliver  this  little  book  to 
my  dear  brother  Farrer  [Ferrar],  and  tell  him  he  shall  find  in  it  a  pic- 
ture of  the  many  spiritual  conflicts  that  have  passed  betwixt  God  and 
my  soul  .  .  .  desire  him  to  read  it ;  and  then,  if  he  can  think  it  may 
turn  to  the  advantage  of  any  dejected  poor  soul,  let  it  be  made  pub- 
lick  ;  if  not,  let  him  burn  it,  for  I  and  it  are  less  than  the  least  of 
God's  mercies.'  Thus  meanly  did  this  humble  man  think  of  this 
excellent  book,  which  now  bears  the  name  of  The  Temple,  or  Sacred 
Poems  and  HHvate  Ejaculations  ..." 

The  small  volume  was  entered  for  license  soon  after  the  poet's 
death,  but  was  at  first  refused  by  the  Vice- Chancellor.  Izaak  Walton 
is  again  ovu  informant  of  the  circumstance : 

"  And  this  ought  to  be  noted,  that  when  Mr.  Farrer  sent  this  book 
to  Cambridge  to  be  Hcensed  for  the  press,  the  Vice-Chancellor  would 
by  no  means  allow  the  two  so  much-noted  verses, 

'  Religion  stands  a  tiptoe  in  our  land, 
Ready  to  pass  to  American  strand,' 

60 


GEORGE    HERBERT  6i 

to  be  printed ;  and  Mr.  Farrer  would  by  no  means  allow  the  book  to 
be  printed  and  want  them.  But  after  some  time  and  some  arguments 
for  and  against  their  being  made  publick,  the  Vice- Chancellor  said, 
'  I  knew  Mr.  Herbert  well,  and  know  that  he  had  many  heavenly 
speculations,  and  was  a  divine  poet ;  but  I  hope  the  world  will  not 
take  him  to  be  an  inspired  prophet,  and  therefore  I  license  the  whole 
book.'  So  that  it  came  to  be  printed  without  the  diminution  or  addi- 
tion of  a  syllable  since  it  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Duncon, 
save  only  that  Mr.  Farrer  hath  added  that  excellent  preface  that  is 
printed  before  it." 

There  were  two  editions  of  the  book  in  the  same  year,  and  beside 
these,  two  copies  are  known,  like  the  first  edition  in  every  particular, 
except  the  title-page,  which  is  not  dated,  and  reads  as  follows : 

The  I  Temple.  \  Sacred  poems  \  And  \  Private  Eja-  |  culations.  \  By 
Af-  George  Herbert,  late  Oratour  of  the  Univerfitie  |  at  Cambridge.  | 
Psal.  29,  I  In  his  Temple  doth  every  |  man  speak  of  his  honour.  |  Cam- 
bridge: I  Printed  by  Thomas  Buck  \  and  Roger  Daniel:  |  S\And  are  to 
be  fold  by  Francis  |  Green,  flationer  in  |  Cambridge. 

Grosant  thinks  that  the  undated  copies  were  limited  to  a  very  few, 
issued  as  gifts  to  intimate  friends. 

Thomas  Buck  appears  to  have  held  the  office  of  printer  to  the  Uni- 
versity from  1625  for  upward  of  forty  years.  During  that  period  he 
had  several  partners  besides  Daniel,  with  all  of  whom  he  quarrelled. 
Daniel  was  appointed  on  July  24,  1632,  and  the  next  year,  or  the 
year  when  Herbert's  book  was  published,  entered  into  an  agreement 
by  which  he  received  one-third  of  the  profits  of  the  office,  while  Buck 
received  two-thirds. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  ^,  four  leaves;  A-I2,  in  twelves. 


JOHN    DONNE 
(1573— 1631) 

25.  Poems,  I  By  J.  D.  |  With  |  Elegies  |  On  The  Authors  | 
Death.  |  London.  |  Printed  by  M.  F.  for  lohn  Harriot,  | 
and  are  to  be  fold  at  his  fhop  in  St.  Dunftans  |  Church- 
yard in  Fleet-ftreet.     1633. 

An  entry  in  the  Registers  of  the  Stationers'  Company  shows  the 
book  to  have  been  regularly  licensed,  though  somewhat  delayed 
owing  to  the  doubts  of  the  censor  concerning  the  Satires  and  certain 
of  the  Elegies. 

"13"  Septembris  1632 

"  John  Marriott.  Entred  for  his  Copy  vnder  the  handes  of  Sir  Henry 
Herbert  and  both  the  Wardens  a  booke  of  verses  and  Poems  (the  five 
satires,  the  first,  second,  Tenth,  Eleaventh  and  Thirteenth  Elegies 
being  excepted)  and  these  before  excepted  to  be  his,  when  he  bringes 
lawfuU  authority  .  .  .  vj*^. 

"written  by  Doctor  John  Dunn."  . 

But  in  1637,  after  two  editions  had  been  published,  the  poet's  son, 
who  had  a  somewhat  unsavory  reputation,  addressed  a  petition  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  stating  that  it  had  been  put  forth  "  withoute 
anie  leaue  or  Authoritie,"  and,  as  a  result,  the  Archbishop  issued  the 
following  order,  December  16,  1637. 

'*  I  require  ye  Parties  whom  this  Petition  concernes  not  to  meddle 
any  farther  with  ye  Printing  or  Selling  of  any  ye  pretended  workes  of 
ye  late  Deane  of  St.  Paules,  saue  onely  such  as  shall  be  hcensed  by 
publike  authority,  and  approued  by  the  Petitioner,  as  they  will  answere 
ye  contrary  to  theyr  perill.  And  this  I  desire  Mr.  Deane  of  ye  Arches 
to  take  care." 

In  view  of  this  discussion,  Marriot's  note  in  "The  Printer  To  The 
Understanders,"  which  is  not  found  in  all  copies,  and  which,  since  it 

62 


JOHN    DONNE  63 

is  printed  on  two  extra  leaves,  was  evidently  an  afterthought  for 
late  issues,  takes  on  an  added  interest.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say 
whether  his  apologies  touching  on  all  these  matters  were  actuated  by 
the  noble  spirit  in  which  he  claims  he  printed  the  book,  or  to  ward  off 
anticipated  criticism.  One  is  almost  tempted  to  try  and  read  between 
the  lines  when  he  exclaims : 

*'  If  you  looke  for  an  Epiflle,  as  you  haue  before  ordinary  pubhca- 
tions,  I  am  fory  that  I  mud  deceive  you ;  but  you  will  not  lay  it  to  my 
charge,  when  you  shall  confider  that  this  is  not  ordinary  .  .  .  ,  you 
may  imagine  (if  it  pleafe  you)  that  I  could  endeare  it  unto  you,  by 
faying,  that  importunity  drew  it  on,  that  had  it  not  beene  prefented 
here,  it  would  haue  come  to  us  beyond  the  Seas  (which  perhaps  is 
true  enough,)  that  my  charge  and  paines  in  procuring  of  it  hath  beene 
fuch,  and  fuch.  I  could  adde  hereunto  a  promife  of  more  correctneffe, 
or  enlargement  in  the  next  Edition,  if  you  fhall  in  the  meane  time 
content  you  with  this  .  .  . 

"If  any  man  (thinking  I  fpeake  this  to  enflame  him  for  the  vent  of 
the  Impreffion)  be  of  another  opinion,  I  fhall  as  willingly  fpare  his 
money  as  his  judgement.  I  cannot  loofe  fo  much  by  him  as  hee  will 
by  himfelfe.  For  I  fhall  fatiffie  my  felfe  with  the  confcience  of  well 
doing,  in  making  fo  much  good  common. 

"  Howfoeuer  it  may  appeare  to  you,  it  fhall  fuffice  me  to  enforme 
you  that  it  hath  the  befl  warrant  that  can  bee,  publique  authority  and 
private  friends." 

The  younger  Donne's  petition  is  supported  by  the  appearance  of 
the  book  itself,  which  was  edited  in  a  very  careless  fashion,  without  any 
attempt  at  order  or  relation.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  as  Mr.  Edmund 
Gosse  has  pointed  out,  Marriott  and  his  edition  really  do  seem  to 
have  had  the  support  of  the  best  men  among  Donne's  disciples  and 
friends :  King,  Hyde,  Thomas  Browne,  Richard  Corbet,  Henry  Val- 
entine, Izaak  Walton,  Thomas  Carew,  Jasper  Mayne,  Richard  Brath- 
waite  and  Endymion  Porter,  all  of  whom,  beside  several  others,  com- 
bined to  write  the  Elegies  mentioned  on  the  title-page. 

The  printer,  "  M.  F.,"  was  Miles  Flesher,  or  Fletcher,  successor  to 
George  Eld,  and  one  of  the  twenty  master  printers  who  worked  dur- 
ing this  most  troublous  period,  following  the  famous  act  of  July  11,  1637. 
He  also  printed  for  Marriott  the  second  edition  of  1635  in  octavo, 
and  the  third  of  1639,  which,  in  the  matter  of  contents,  is  practically 
the  same  as  the  second. 


64  JOHN    DONNE 

Marriott's  first  reference  in  the  lines  of  the  "  Hexaflichon  Biblio- 
polae  "  which  follows  "  The  Printer  To  The  Understanders," 

"  I  See  in  his  lafl  preach'd,  and  printed  booke, 
His  Picture  in  a  flieete ;  in  Pauls  I  looke, 
And  fee  his  Statue  in  a  fheete  of  (lone, 
And  fure  his  body  in  the  graue  hath  one : 
Thofe  fheetes  prefent  him  dead,  thefe  if  you  buy, 
You  haue  him  lining  to  Eternity," 

refers  to  the  portrait  engraved  by  Martin  Droeshout,  issued  with 
Deaths s  Dtiell,  in  1632.  The  whole  verse  seems  to  be  an  apology  for 
the  lack  of  a  portrait  in  this  volume.  Donne  was  abundantly  figured 
afterward.  The  /?7<?wj,  printed  in  1635,  and  again  in  1639,  contained 
his  portrait  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  engraved  by  Marshall ;  Merian  en- 
graved him  at  the  age  of  forty-two,  for  the  Sermons  of  1640 ;  and 
Lombart  produced  the  beautiful  head  for  the  Letters  of  165 1. 

Quarto, 

Collation:    Title  ^  one  leaf j  A-Z,  Aa-Zz,  and  Aaa-F^^,  in  fours. 


SIR   THOMAS   BROWNE 

(1605— 1682) 

26.  Religio,  I  Medici.  |  Printed  for  Andrew  Crooke.     1642. 
Will :  Marfhall.  feu. 

This  is  thought  to  be  the  earlier  of  two  anonymous  editions  pubhshed 
in  the  same  year,  and  without  the  author's  sanction,  as  we  learn  from  the 
third  edition  published  in  the  following  year,  entitled  A  true  and  full 
coppy  of  that  which  was  moft  |  imperfectly  and  Surreptitiously  printed 
before  \  under  the  name  of:  Religio  Medici.  In  the  preface  Browne 
says  over  his  signature:  "...  I  have  at  prefent  reprefented  into  the 
world  a  ful  and  intended  copy  of  that  Peece  which  was  moft  imperfectly 
and  surreptitioufly  pubhfhed  before."  He  repeats  the  complaint  of 
surreptitious  publication  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  in  which  he 
begs  the  latter  to  delay  the  publication  of  his  "Animadversions 
upon  .  .  .  the  Rehgio  Medici"  which  "the  Hberty  of  these  times 
committed  to  the  Press." 

The  chief  points  of  difference  between  the  two  surreptitious  editions 
have  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Greenhill  in  his  facsimile  edition 
of  the  book,  printed  in  1883.  The  form  of  some  of  the  capital  letters 
is  occasionally  different ;  the  issue  which  he  calls  A,  and  to  which  our 
copy  belongs,  has  pp.  190,  the  other,  B,  159  ;  A  has  25  lines  to  a  page 
—  B,  26  ;  and  the  lines  in  A  are  shorter  than  those  in  B.  After  com- 
paring these  with  the  authorized  version,  Mr.  Greenhill  says : 

"  It  will  appear  from  the  above  collection  of  various  readings  that 
the  alterations  made  by  the  Author  in  the  authorized  edition  consisted 
chiefly  in  the  correction  of  positive  blunders,  made  (as  we  know  from 
an  examination  of  the  existing  MSS.)  quite  as  often  by  the  copyist  as 
by  the  printer.  But  he  also  took  the  opportunity  of  modifying  various 
positive  and  strongly  worded  propositions  by  the  substitution  of  less 
dogmatic  expressions,  or  the  insertion  of  the  qualifying  words,  /  think, 

65 


66  SIR  THOMAS    BROWNE 

as  some  will  have  it,  in  some  sense,  upon  some  grounds,  and  the  like. " 
"  Upon  the  whole,"  Mr.  Greenhill  thinks  Browne  "  had  good  rea- 
son to  complain  bitterly  that  the  book  was  published,  not  only  without 
his  knowledge  and  consent,  but  also  in  a  "  depraved  and  '  imperfect ' 
form." 

The  curious  coincidence  that  all  three  editions,  spurious  and  author- 
ized, were  issued  by  the  same  publisher,  who  used  the  engraved  title- 
page  by  WiUiam  Marshall  for  each,  only  changing  the  imprint,  gave 
rise  to  the  hypothesis  that,  if  Sir  Thomas  did  not  authorize,  he  did 
not  prevent  the  publication  of  the  early  editions.  In  fact.  Dr.  John- 
son (though  he  professes  to  acquit  him)  favored  the  view  "that 
Browne  procured  the  anonymous  publication  of  the  treatise  in  order  to 
try  its  success  with  the  public  before  openly  acknowledging  the  au- 
thorship." 

The  effect  of  the  work  certainly  justified  any  fears  the  author  may 
have  had.  It  excited  much  controversy  and  was  placed  in  the  Index 
Expurgatorius  of  the  Roman  Church.  But  from  the  publisher's  point 
of  view,  it  was  a  great  success.  Eleven  editions  appeared  during 
Browne's  lifetime,  it  was  reprinted  over  and  over  again,  and  it  pro- 
voked over  thirty  imitations  of  its  scope  or  title.  It  was  translated 
into  Latin,  Dutch,  French  and  German. 

The  emblematic  fancy  of  Marshall  has  represented  on  the  engraved 
title-page  of  this  volume,  a  hand  from  the  clouds  catching  a  man  to 
hinder  his  falling  from  a  rock  into  the  sea.  The  picture  bears  the  legend 
"  k  coelo  salus,"  which  was  afterward  erased,  not,  we  will  hope,  because 
of  lack  of  faith  in  the  sentiment  expressed.  The  title  was  also  rubbed 
out. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :  Engraved  title,  one  leaf;  A-M,  in  eights. 


EDMUND   WALLER 

(1606— 1687) 

27.  The  I  Workes  |  Of  |  Edmond  Waller  |  Efquire,  | 
[Four  lines]  Imprimatur  |  Na.  Brent.  Decemb.  30. 
1644.  I  London,  |  Printed  for  Thomas  Walkley  |  1645. 

The  "  Workes  "  of  this  poet  "  nursed  in  parliaments  "  consist  of  poems 
and  speeches.  The  book  was  probably  issued  early  in  the  year, 
having,  as  we  see  from  the  title-page,  been  licensed  in  December, 
1644.  There  are  copies  identical  in  every  other  respect,  that  show  a 
block  of  printer's  ornament  instead  of  the  "  Imprimatur,"  and  still 
others  with  quite  a  new  title-page,  which  reads :  Poems,  |  &"€.  \  Writ- 
ten By  I  Mr.  Ed.  Waller  |  of  Beckonfjield,  Efquire ;  lately  a  \  Mem- 
ber of  the  Honourable  |  House  of  Commons.  \  All  the  Lyrick  Poems  in 
this  Booke  |  were  fet  by  Mr.  Henry  Lavves  Gent.  |  of  the  Kings  Chap- 
pell,  and  one  of  his  \  Mafeflies  Private  Mufick.  |  Printed  and  Publijhed 
according  to  Order.  |  London,  |  Printed  by  T.  W.  for  Humphrey  Mofley, 
at  the  I  Princes  Armes  in  Pauls  Church-  |  yard.      1645. 

New  poems  have  been  added  to  this  last  issue,  and  "  The  Table  " 
of  contents  has  been  inserted  between  the  poems  and  speeches. 
There  is  also  an  Epistle  "  To  my  Lady,"  and  "  An  advertifement  to 
the  Reader  "  wherein  we  read : 

"This  parcell  of  exquifit  poems,  have  paff'd  up  and  downe  through 
many  hands  amongll  perfons  of  the  beft  qualHty,  in  loofe  imperfect 
Manufcripts,  and  there  is  lately  obtruded  to  the  world  an  adulterate 
Copy,  surruptitioufly  and  illegally  imprinted,  to  the  derogation  of  the 
Author,  and  the  abufe  of  the  Buyer.  But  in  this  booke  they  apeare  in 
their  pure  originalls  and  true  genuine  colours." 

We  may  with  reasonableness  see  in  the  first  variation  a  publisher's 
trick  to  make  his  book  appear  to  have  had  a  quick  sale ;  while  the 
second  might  indicate  a  transfer  of  the  unsold  sheets  from  Walkley  to 

67 


68  EDMUND   WALLER 

Moseley,  who  for  some  reason,  perhaps  an  agreement  arrived  at  with 
the  poet,  considered  himself  to  be  the  authorized  publisher. 

Later  in  the  same  year,  Moseley  issued  a  reprint,  which  omitted 
the  Speeches,  and  a  new  edition  in  octavo  with  a  title-page  which 
now  reads: 

Poems,  b^c.  \  Written  By  \  Mr.  Ed.  Waller  \  [Three  Hues]  And 
Printed  by  a  Copy  of  \  his  own  hand-writing.  \  [Four  lines]  Printed 
and  Ihiblijhed  according  to  Order.  |  London,  \  Printed  by  J.  N.  for  Hu. 
Mofley,  at  the  Princes  |  Armes  in  Pauls  Church-yard,  |  1645. 

The  volume  has  been  entirely  reprinted. 

The  Speeches  appear  again,  but  the  rest  of  the  contents  remain  as 
before.  Mr.  Beverly  Chew,  in  an  article  on  "The  First  Edition  of 
Waller's  Poems,"  says:  "It  is  this  edition  that  is  generally  called  the 
'first  authorized  edition,'  but  it  is  quite  evident  that  all  of  the  editions 
of  this  year  stand  about  on  the  same  level  so  far  as  the  author  is 
concerned."  Not  until  the  edition  of  1664  do  we  read  on  the  title- 
page,  "  Never  till  now  Corrected  and  Published  with  the  approbation 
of  the  Author." 

Octavo. 

Collation  :    Title,  one  leaf,  B-H,  in  eights. 


FRANCIS   BEAUMONT 
(1584— 1616) 

AND 

JOHN    FLETCHER 

(1579— 1625) 

28.  Comedies  |  And  |  Tragedies  |  Written  by  |  Francis 
Beavmont  |  And  |  lohn  Fletcher  |  Gentlemen.  |  Never 
printed  before,  |  And  now  publifhed  by  the  Authours  | 
Originall  Copies.  |  [Quotation]  London,  |  Printed  for 
Humphrey  Robinfon,  at  the  three  Pidgeons,  and  for  | 
Humphrey  Mofeley  at  the  Princes  Armes  in  S*  Pauls  | 
Church-yard.     1647. 

These  two  dramatists,  between  whom  "there  was  a  wonderfull  con- 
simility  of  phancy,"  and  who  shared  everything  in  common,  were  in- 
separably connected  in  their  writings.  No  collected  edition  of  their 
plays  appeared  before  this  posthumous  one,  which  is  dedicated  to 
Philip,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  by  ten  actors,  and  is  introduced  to  the 
reader  by  James  Shirley,  the  dramatist,  who  speaks  of  the  volume  as 
"without  flattery  the  greatest  Monument  of  the  Scene  that  Time  and 
Humanity  have  produced."  This,  too,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
Shakespeare's  Works  had  appeared  twenty-four  years  before. 

This  edition  appears  to  have  been  due  to  Moseley's  enterprise.  He 
tells  us  in  a  frank  address  called  "  The  Stationer  to  the  Readers  " : 

"  'T  were  vaine  to  mention  the  Chargeableneffe  of  this  Work ;  for 
thofe  who  own'd  the  Manufcripts,  too  well  knew  their  value  to  make  a 
cheap  eflimate  of  any  of  thefe  Pieces,  and  though  another  joyn'd  with 

69 


70         BEAUMONT  AND   FLETCHER 

me  in  the  Purchafe  and  Printing,  yet  the  Care  &  Pains  were  wholly 
mine  .  .  ." 

Commenting  upon  the  fact  stated  on  the  title-page  that  the  plays 
had  not  been  printed  before,  he  says :  "  You  have  here  a  New  Booke ; 
I  can  fpeake  it  clearely;  for  of  all  this  large  Uolume  of  Comedies 
and  Tragedies,  not  one,  till  now,  was  ever  printed  before  .  .  ." 
"  And  as  here  's  nothing  but  what  is  genuine  and  Theirs,  fo  you  will 
find  here  are  no  Omiffions ;  you  have  not  onely  All  I  could  get,  but 
all  that  you  mufl  ever  expect.  For  (befides  thofe  which  were  formerly 
printed)  there  is  not  any  Piece  written  by  thefe  Authours,  either 
Joyntly  or  Severally,  but  what  are  now  publifhed  to  the  World  in  this 
Volume.  One  only  Play  I  mud  except  (for  I  meane  to  deale  openly) 
'tis  a  Comedy  called  the  Wilde-goof e- Chafe,  which  hath  beene  long 
lost  .  .  ." 

Nothing  which  throws  light  upon  the  history  of  printing  at  this 
time  is  more  interesting  than  the  Postscript  added  at  the  end  of  the 
commendatory  verses  by  Waller,  Lovelace,  Herrick,  Ben  Jonson  and 
others,  and  immediately  after  a  poem  by  Moseley  himself  ending,  "  If 
this  Booke  faile,  'tis  time  to  quit  the  Trade."  .  .  . 

"...  After  the  Comedies  and  Tragedies  were  wrought  off,  we  were 
forced  (for  expedition)  to  fend  the  Gentlemens  Verfes  to  feverall 
Printers,  which  was  the  occafion  of  their  different  Character ;  but  the 
Worke  it  felfe  is  one  continued  Letter,  which  (though  very  legible)  is 
none  of  the  biggefl,  becaufe  (as  much  as  poflible)  we  would  leflen  the 
Bulke  of  the  Volume." 

This  matter  of  size  seems  to  have  been  the  cause  of  no  little  solici- 
tude and  care.    Speaking  of  adding  more  plays  to  the  volume,  he  says : 
"  And  indeed  it  would  have  rendred  the  Booke  fo  Voluminous,  that 
Ladies  and  Gentlewomen  would  have  found  it  fcarce  manageable,  who 
in  Workes  of  this  natiu^e  muft.  firfl.  be  remembred." 

There  are  thirty-six  plays  in  the  collection :  as  the  stationer  tells 
us  in  the  preface  to  the  reader  quoted  above,  all  those  previously 
printed  in  quarto  are  included,  except  the  Wild  Goose  Chase,  which  had 
been  lost.  It  is  added  at  the  end  of  the  volume  with  a  separate  title- 
page  dated  1652. 

The  following  epigram  by  Sir  Aston  Cockain,  addressed  to  the  pub- 
lishers, the  two  Humphreys,  is  not  without  interest  in  this  connection 
as  showing  that  the  difficulties  arising  from  the  joint  authorship  were 
early  sources  of  perplexity : 


BEAUMONT  AND    FLETCHER         71 

"  In  the  large  book  of  Plays  you  late  did  print 
(In  Beaumonts  and  in  Fletchers  name)  why  in't 
Did  you  not  juflice?  give  to  each  his  due? 
For  Beaumont  (of  thofe  many)  writ  in  few  : 
And  Maffmger  in  other  few ;  the  Main 
Being  fole  Iffues  of  fweet  Fletchers  brain. 
But  how  come  I  (you  ask)  fo  much  to  know? 
Fletchers  chief  bofome-friend  inform'd  me  fo. 


For  Beaumont's  works,  &  Fletchers  Ihould  come  forth 
With  all  the  right  belonging  to  their  worth." 

Moseley,  in  his  address  as  stationer,  says  of  the  portrait  of  Fletcher 
by  WiUiam  Marshall,  which  bears  the  inscriptions,  "  Poetarum  Inge- 
niosissimus  loannes  Fletcherus  Anglus  Episcopi  Lond :  FiH."  "  Obijt 
1625  -^tat  49":  "This  figure  of  Mr.  Fletcher  was  cut  by  feveral 
Originall  Pieces,  which  his  friends  lent  me ;  but  withall  they  tell  me, 
that  his  unimitable  Soule  did  fliine  through  his  countenance  in  fuch 
Ayre  and  Spirit,  that  the  Painters  confeffed  it,  was  not  eafie  to  exprelTe 
him."  The  nine  lines  of  verse  beneath  the  portrait  are  by  Sir  John 
Birkenhead.  The  portrait  is  found  in  two  states,  distinguishable  by 
the  size  of  the  letters  in  Birkenhead's  name.  Although  he  was  very 
ambitious  to  get  a  portrait  of  Master  Beaimiont,  his  search  proved 
unavailing. 

There  are  a  few  woodcut  head-bands,  varied  with  others  made  of 
type  metal,  in  the  front  part  of  the  book,  but  the  last  part  is  severely 
plain. 

Folio.     The  first  collected  edition. 

Collation:  Portrait;  A,  four  leaves;  a-c,  in  fours ;  d-g,  in 
twos;  B—L2,  in  fours;  Aa-Ss,  in  fours ;  Aaor-Xxx,  in  fours ; 
/[A-^I,  in  fours ;  t^A-t^X,  in  fours  ;  6A-6K,  infours  ;  6 L,  six  leaves; 
'jA-'jG,  in  fours ;  8^-8 C,  in  fours ;  *Dddddddd,  two  leaves; 
2>D-^F,  in  fours. 


ROBERT  HERRICK 

(1591— 1674) 

29.  Hesperides :  |  Or,  |  The  Works  |  Both  |  Humane  & 
Divine  |  Of  |  Robert  Herrick  Efq.  [Quotation,  Prin- 
ter's mark]  London,  |  Printed  for  John  Williams,  and 
Francis  Eglesfield,  |  and  are  to  be  fold  at  the  Crown 
and  Marygold  |  in  Saint  Pauls  Church-yard.     1648. 

A  volume  entitled  "The  seuerall  Poems  written  by  Master  Robert 
Herrick"  was  entered  by  Master  Crooke  for  license  April  29,  1640, 
but  was  not  published.  The  Hesperides  was  the  first  work  of  the 
poet  to  be  printed,  except  some  occasional  contributions  to  collections 
of  poems.  It  is  dedicated  in  a  metrical  epistle  to  the  most  illustrious 
and  most  hopeful  Charles,  Prince  of  Wales,  afterward  Charles  II. 

The  book  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  second  having  a  separate 
title-page  which  reads:  His  \  Noble  Numbers:  \  Or,  |  His  Pious 
Heces,  I  Wherein  {amongjl  other  things')  |  he  fings  the  Birth  of  his 
Christ :  |  and  fighs  for  his  Saviours  fuj^e-  \  ring  on  the  Croffe.  |  [  Quo- 
tation]  London.  \  Printed  for  John  Williams,  and  Francis  Eglesfield, 
1647.  I 

This  part  was  not  issued,  as  far  as  is  known,  except  with  the 
Hesperides  to  which  the  author  evidently  intended  it  to  be  affixed,  if 
we  may  judge  by  the  lines  toward  the  end  of  the  first  part:  "Part  of 
the  work  remains ;  one  part  is  past." 

The  year  of  publication  had  seen  Herrick  dispossessed  of  his 
living  at  Dean  Prior  by  the  predominant  Puritan  party,  and  it  has 
been  suggested  that  he  was  glad  to  take  this  means  of  gaining  an 
income.  His  use  of  the  form,  "  Robert  Herrick,  Esquire,"  was,  it 
is  thought,  a  wise  move  on  the  part  of  the  pubhshers,  since  a  book  by 
the  "  Reverend,"  or  "  Robert  Herrick,  Vicker  "  would  have  been  less 
likely  to  meet  with  favor. 

72 


ROBERT   HERRICK  73 

Neither  Williams  nor  Eglesfield  was  a  bookseller  of  importance, 
and  the  printer  is  entirely  unknown.  He  may  have  withheld  his 
name  for  fear  of  the  judgment  suggested  by  Herrick  at  the  head 
of  his  column  of  Errata : 

"  For  thefe  Tranfgrefsions  which  thou  here  doft  fee, 
Condemne  the  Printer,  Reader,  and  not  me  ; 
Who  gave  him  forth  good  Grain,  though  he  miftook 
The  Seed ;  fo  fow'd  thefe  Tares  throughout  my  Book." 

Copies  vary  in  the  imprint,  some  reading  London,  Printed  for  John 
Williams  and  Francis  Eglesfield,  and  are  to  be  fold  by  Tho.  Hunt,  Book- 
feller  in  Exon,  1648  ;  and  several  differences  of  spelling,  capitalization 
and  punctuation  also  occur.  These  variations  have  given  rise  to  a 
discussion  that  aims  to  determine  the  sequence  of  issues ;  but  thus  far 
it  serves  only  to  prove  that  constant  editorial  tinkering  took  place 
at  the  press-side. 

William  Marshall,  whose  prolific  graver  (Strutt  says  he  used  only 
that  tool)  produced  portraits,  frontispieces,  title-pages,  and  other 
decorations  of  a  certain  charm,  even  if  dry  and  cramped  in  style, 
had  in  Herrick  a  subject  of  more  than  usual  difficulty.  As  if  con- 
scious of  his  shortcomings  he  attempts  to  make  atonement  by  the 
emblematic  flattery  of  Pegasus  winging  his  flight  from  Parnassus,  the 
Spring  of  Helicon,  loves  and  flowers,  which  he  adds  to  lines  signed 
/.  H.  C.  and  IV.  M. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  Four  leaves  (without  signatures):  B-Z and  Aa-Cc,  in 
eights;  Aa-Ee,  in  eights. 


JEREMY   TAYLOR 

(1613 — 1667 ) 

30.  The  Rule  |  And  |  Exercises  |  Of  |  Holy  Living.  | 
[Eleven  lines]  London,  |  Printed  for  Francis  Afh, 
Book-  I  Seller  in  Worcefter.  |  MDCL.  [Colophon] 
London,  |  Printed  by  R.  Norton.  |  MDCL 

The  remarkably  well-designed  title-page  engraved  by  Robert  Vaughan, 
which  precedes  the  printed  title,  bears  the  imprint,  London  printed  for  R: 
Royfton  |  in  Ivye  lane.  1650.  and  some  copies  have  the  following  im- 
print on  the  title-page :  London,  |  Printed  for  Richard  Royfton  at 
the  I  Angel  in  Ivie-Lane.  |  MDCL.  Royston  was  the  royal  bookseller, 
and  publisher  of  Eikon  Basilike,  which  ran  through  fifty  editions  in 
the  single  year  1649.  Taylor's  work  was  also  a  popular  venture,  and 
reached  a  fourteenth  edition  in  1686. 

This  edition  contains  "  Prayers  for  our  Rulers,"  which  recalls  the  fact 
that  these  were  stirring  times  when  the  book  was  published.  Charles 
had  been  beheaded  in  January  of  the  previous  year,  and  Cromwell 
won  his  victory  at  Worcester,  where  Ash  had  his  shop,  in  the  year 
following.  It  was  not  without  some  worldly  wisdom  of  living,  then, 
that  our  author  used  the  above  heading,  and  later,  when  times  were 
changed,  altered  it  so  as  to  make  it  read,  "For  the  King." 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :  Frontispiece/  ^,  twelve  leaves/  A-S4,  in  twelves. 


74 


IZAAK  WALTON 

(1593— 1683) 

31.  The  I  Compleat  Angler  |  [Six  lines,  Quotation.]  Lon- 
don, Printed  by  T.  Maxey  for  Rich.  Harriot,  in  |  S. 
Dunftans  Church-yard  Fleetftreet,  1653. 

In  the  Perfect  Diurnall,  as  well  as  in  other  broad-sheets,  the  following 
advertisement  appeared  from  Monday,  May  9,  to  Monday,  May 
16,  1653: 

"The  Compleat  Angler  or  the  Contemplative  Man's  Recreation, 
being  a  Difcourfe  of  Fish  and  Fishing,  not  unworthy  the  perufal 
of  mofl  Anglers,  of  18  pence  price.  Written  by  Iz.  Wa.  Alfo  the 
known  Play  of  the  Spanifh  Gipfee,  never  till  now  publilhed.  Both 
printed  for  Richard  Marriot,  to  be  fold  at  his  fhop  in  St.  Dun- 
ftans Church-yard,  Fleet  Street."  Walton  could  hardly  have  expected 
his  work  to  be  anonymous  when  his  very  distinctive  initials  ap- 
peared so  plainly  in  the  advertisement.  And  even  though  they  are 
not  printed  on  the  title-page  of  the  book,  they  are  signed  to  the 
dedication  to  his  most  honoured  friend,  Mr.  John  Offley  of  Madeley 
Manor,  and  at  the  end  of  the  address  "To  the  Reader  of  this  Dis- 
course: but  efpecially  To  the  honeft  Angler."  The  name  was  added 
to  the  title  in  the  fifth  or  1676  edition,  called  The  Universal  Angler. 

Contemplative  men  did  indeed  find  the  work  not  unworthy  their 
perusal,  and  Marriot,  who  seems  to  have  been  fortunate  in  the  books 
he  published,  alone  issued  five  editions  during  the  life  of  the  author. 
Between  then  and  now  we  may  count  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
thirty  different  imprints.  At  Sotheby's,  in  1895,  a  copy  of  this  eighteen- 
pence  book  sold  for  four  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds,  an  earnest  of 
its  rarity  and  of  the  eagerness  with  which  it  is  sought. 

Concerning  the  engraved  cartouche  with  the  first  part  of  the  title, 
on  the  title-page,  and  the  six  illustrations  of  fish  engraved  in  the  text, 

75 


76  IZAAK   WALTON 

the  author  says  "To  the  Reader  of  this  Discourse":  "And  let  me 
adde  this,  that  he  that  Hkes  not  the  difcourfe  fliould  hke  the  pictures 
of  the  Trout  and  other  fifh,  which  I  may  commend,  becaufe  they 
concern  not  myfelf."  No  name  is  given  to  show  whose  work  they 
may  be ;  they  are  sometimes  ascribed  to  Pierre  Lombart,  a  French- 
man resident  in  London,  and  employed  by  book-publishers  to  illus- 
trate their  books.  But  on  the  other  hand  we  must  not  forget  that 
Vaughan  and  Faithome  were  both  making  illustrations  for  books  at  this 
time.  There  is  reason  for  calling  attention  to  the  belief,  formerly  cur- 
rent, that  the  engravings  were  done  on  plates  of  silver,  a  notion  which, 
as  Thomas  Westwood  remarks,  is  sufficiently  disproved  by  their  re- 
peated use  in  no  less  than  five  editions  of  The  Compleat  Angler^  and 
the  same  number  of  Venable's  Experienced  Angler. 

Henry  Lawes,  the  musician,  and  the  author  of  several  works,  wrote 
the  music  to  "The  Anglers'  Song  For  two  Voyces,  Treble  and  Baffe," 
which  occupies  pages  216  and  217.  The  right-hand  page  is  printed 
upside  down  for  the  greater  convenience  of  the  singers,  who  could 
thus  stand  facing  one  another.  Lawes  used  a  similar  arrangement  in 
his  Select  Ayres  and  Dialogues,  published  the  same  year  as  the  Angler. 

Octavo. 

Collation  :  A-Ri,  in  eights. 


SAMUEL   BUTLER 

(1612— 1680) 

32.  Hudibras.  |  The  First  Part,  |  Written  in  the  time  of  the 
late  Wars.  |  [Device]  London,  |  Printed  by  J.  G.  for 
Richard  Marriot,  under  Saint  |  Dunstans  Church  in 
Fleetftreet.     1663. 

Although  "  written  in  the  time  of  the  late  Wars,"  Hudibras  was  not 
licensed  to  be  printed  until  November  11,  1662,  two  years  after  the 
reestablishment  of  the  monarchy,  when  a  satire  on  Puritanism  could 
no  longer  give  offense  to  the  ruling  party.  On  the  contrary,  the 
satisfaction  which  it  gave  to  the  King  and  court  had  much  to  do 
with  the  great  success  it  achieved.  Butler  himself  records  the  royal 
favor : 

"  He  never  ate,  nor  drank,  nor  slept, 
But  *  Hudibras '  still  near  him  kept ; 
Nor  would  he  go  to  church  or  so, 
But  *  Hudibras'  must  with  him  go." 

Marriot,  the  successful  publisher  of  Walton's  AngUr  and  some  of 
Donne's  books,  issued  the  first  part  in  three  different  forms,  large 
octavo,  like  our  copy,  small  octavo,  and  duodecimo;  the  last  two 
sizes  being  sold  for  a  lower  price  than  the  former,  to  meet  the  popular 
demand  for  the  work.  Besides  these  there  is  another  edition,  in  three 
issues  of  the  same  date,  which  has  no  name  of  printer  or  publisher  in 
the  imprint,  although,  like  Harriot's  copies,  it  bears  the  license,  "  Im- 
primatur. Jo:  Berkenhead,  Novemb.  11,  1662."  If  it  were  not  for 
this  imprimatur,  the  following  notice,  which  appeared  in  the  Public 
Intelligencer  for  December  23,  1662,  would  make  it  seem  certain  that 
the  nameless  edition  was  really  spurious : 

"  There  is  stolen  abroad  a  most  false  imperfect  copy  of  a  poem 
called  Hudibras,  without  name  either  of  printer  or  bookseller,  as  fit  for 
so  lame  and  spurious  an  impression.     The  true  and  perfect  edition 

77 


78  SAMUEL   BUTLER 

printed  by  the  author's  original,  is  sold  by  Richard  Marriot  under 
St.  Dunstan's  church  in  Fleet  Street ;  that  other  nameless  is  a  cheat, 
and  will  not  abuse  the  buyer  as  well  as  the  author,  whose  poem 
deserves  to  have  fallen  into  better  hands."  But  the  presence  of  the 
regular  hcense  brings  us  to  the  very  probable  theory  that  Marriot  may 
have  issued  both  editions ;  the  first  without  his  name  because  he  was 
unwilling  to  allow  it  to  appear  until  the  fortune  of  the  book  seemed 
certain. 

Singularly  enough,  Marriot  did  not  issue  The  Second  Part.  By  the 
Authour  of  the  Firjl,  which  came  out  the  next  year  in  two  sizes,  octavo 
and  small  octavo,  Printed  by  T.  P.  for  John  Afartyn,  and  James 
Allefiry,  at  the  Bell  in  St.  Pauls  Church  Yard.  Ten  years  later  we 
find  the  volume  being  issued  by  Martyn  and  also  by  Herringman. 

The  Third  and  laft  \  Part.  \  Written  by  the  Author  \  Of  The  \  First 
and  Second  Parts.  |  London,  |  Jointed  for  Simon  Miller,  at  the  Sign  of 
the  Star  |  at  the  Weft  End  of  St.  Pauls,  1678.  was  only  published  in 
one  size,  the  octavo.  We  get  an  idea  of  the  great  interest  the  book 
created,  when,  after  a  lapse  of  so  many  years,  this  last  part  ran  into  a 
second  edition  in  a  twelvemonth.* 

Mr.  Pepys  is  our  authority  for  the  cost  of  the  spurious  book.  He 
says,  in  his  Diary  on  Christmas  Day,  1662:  "Hither  come  Mr. 
Battersby ;  and  we  falling  into  a  discourse  of  a  new  book  of  drollery 
in  verse,  called  Hudebras,  I  would  needs  go  find  it  out,  and  met  with 
it  at  the  Temple :  it  cost  2s.  6d.  But  when  I  came  to  read  it,  it  is  so 
silly  an  abuse  of  the  Presbyter  Knight  going  to  the  warrs,  that  I  am 
ashamed  of  it ;  and  by  and  by,  meeting  at  Mr.  Townsend's  at  dinner, 
I  sold  it  to  him  for  i8d."  He  afterward  tried  to  read  the  second  part, 
so  we  learn  from  his  notes  dated  November  28,  1663  ;  but  which  issue 
he  used  we  shall  never  know.     He  says : 

"...  To  Paul's  Church  Yarde,  and  there  looked  upon  the  second 
part  of  Hudibras,  which  I  buy  not,  but  borrow  to  read,  to  see  if  he 
be  as  good  as  the  first,  which  the  world  do  cry  so  mightily  up,  though 
it  hath  not  a  good  liking  in  me  .  .  ." 

Octavo. 

Collation  :    Title;  A-R,  in  eights. 

*  It  should  be  noted  that  some  copies  of  the  volume  have  the  record 
of  the  license  and  some  have  none. 


JOHN    MILTON 

(1608 — 1674) 

33.  Paradife  loft.  |  A  |  Poem  |  Written  in  |  Ten  Books  |  By- 
John  Milton.  I  Licenfed  and  Entred  according  |  to 
Order.  |  London  |  Printed,  and  are  to  be  fold  by  Peter 
Parker  |  under  Creed  Church  neer  Aldgate;  And  by  | 
Robert  Boulter  at  the  Turks  Head  in  Bifhopfgate-ftreet ; 
I  And  Matthias  Walker,  under  St.  Dunftons  Church  | 
In  Fleet-ftreet,  1667. 

Milton  began  his  great  epic  in  1658,  and  is  said  to  have  finished  it  in 
1663.  It  was  licensed  after  some  delay,  occasioned  by  the  hesita- 
tion of  the  deputy  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  over  the  lines : 

"  As  when  the  Sun,  new  ris'n 
Looks  through  the  Horizontal  Misty  Air 
Shorn  of  his  Beams,  or  from  behind  the  Moon 
In  dim  Eclips,  disastrous  twilight  sheds 
On  half  the  Nations,  and  with  fear  of  change 
Perplexes  Monarchs." 

He  may,  as  Professor  Masson  has  pointed  out,  have  had  difficulty 
in  finding  a  publisher  able  and  willing  to  venture  upon  the  printing  of 
a  work  by  one  "  whose  attacks  on  the  Church  and  defenses  of  the  ex- 
ecution of  Charles  I.  were  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all,  and  some 
of  whose  pamphlets  had  been  publicly  burnt  by  the  hangman  after  the 
Restoration."  Few  probably  of  those  whose  shops  had  centered 
around  Paul's  Churchyard,  the  very  heart  of  the  book-trade,  could 
have  done  so,  for  they  were,  if  not  ruined,  certainly  inconvenienced 
by  the  loss  of  their  stock  and  shops  in  the  Great  Fire  of  the  year  be- 
fore.    It   is   small  wonder  that  Simmons,  to  whom,  through  some 

79 


8o  JOHN    MILTON 

agency  or  other,  the  poet  did  come,  drove  a  hard  bargain  when  the 
agreement  for  the  copyright  was  entered  into,  April  27,  1667.  The 
original  of  this  agreement  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Tonsons, 
the  proprietors  of  the  copyright,  and  was  finally  presented  to  the 
British  Museum  by  Samuel  Rogers,  who  acquired  it  from  Pickering  the 
publisher.  "  Milton  was  to  receive  5  1,  down,  and  5  1.  more  upon 
the  sale  of  each  of  the  first  three  editions.  The  editions  were  to  be 
accounted  as  ended  when  thirteen  hundred  copies  of  each  were  sold 
'to  particular  reading  customers,'  and  were  not  to  exceed  fifteen 
hundred  copies  apiece.  Milton  received  the  second  5  1.  in  April, 
1669,  that  is  15  1.  in  all.  His  widow  in  i68o  settled  all  claims  upon 
Simmons  for  8  1.  and  Simmons  became  proprietor  of  the  copyright, 
then  understood  to  be  perpetuated." 

The  book  made  its  appearance  at  an  unfortunate  time.  London 
had  barely  recovered  from  the  Plague  of  1665  (during  which  eighty 
printers  had  died,  wherein  is  seen  another  reason  for  the  difficulty  in 
finding  a  publisher),  and  the  great  district  devastated  by  the  Fire  was 
still  only  partly  rebuilt.  It  was  not  surprising  that  the  1200  copies 
which  are  thought  to  have  made  the  first  edition  did  not  have  a  brisk 
sale ;  these  were  not  exhausted  for  at  least  eighteen  months,  and  a 
second  impression  was  not  put  out  for  four  years. 

The  copies  of  the  first  printing  may  be  divided  into  several  classes, 
according  to  the  title-pages  they  bear.  These  all  differ  from  one 
another  in  several  more  or  less  important  particulars,  but  the  text 
of  the  work  is  identical  in  all  cases,  except  for  a  few  typographical 
errors.  Two  titles,  supposed  to  be  the  earliest,  were  Licenfed  and 
Entred  according  |  to  Order^  and  have  the  imprint : 

Lofidon  I  Printed^  and  are  to  be  fold  by  Peter  Parker  \  under  Creed 
Church  neer  Aldgate ;  And  by  |  Robert  Boulter  at  the  Turks  Head  in 
Bijhopfgate-Jlreet ;  |  And  Matthias  Walker,  under  St.  Dunjlons  Church  \ 
in  Fleet-Jlreet,  1667. 

On  these  the  poem  is  seen  to  be  by  "John  Milton,"  and  the  only 
difference  between  them  lies  in  the  type  used  for  Milton's  name,  one 
being  of  a  smaller  size  than  the  other.  A  third  title-page,  having  a 
similar  imprint  but  dated  1668,  has  "The  Author  J.  M."  A  fourth  has 
"The  Author  John  Milton,"  the  license  has  given  place  to  a  group  of 
fleurs-de-lis,  and  the  imprint  reads : 

London,  |  Printed  by  S.  Simmons,  and  to  be  fold  by  S.  Thomfon  at  | 
the  Bifhopf-Head  in  Duck-lane,  H.  Mortlack,  at  the  \  White  Hart  in 


JOHN    MILTON  8i 

Wejlminjier  Hall,  M.  Walker  under  \  St.  Dunjlans  Church  in  Fleet- 
Jireet,  and  R.  Boulter  at  \  the  Turks-Head  in  Bijhopfgate  Jireet,  1668. 

Two  new  title-pages  were  used  in  1669,  differing  only  in  the  type. 
The  imprint  reads : 

London,  |  Printed  by  S.  Simmons,  and  are  to  be  fold  by  I  T.  Helder  at 
the  Angel  in  Little  Brittain.  |  1669. 

Beside  these  there  are  others.  Early  bibliographers  claimed  that 
eight  or  even  nine  variations  existed,  but  later  investigation  has  failed 
to  verify  more  than  six. 

The  chief  point  of  interest  in  all  these  variations  lies  in  the  fact 
that  Peter  Parker,  not  Simmons,  issued  the  first  volumes.  As  we  have 
pointed  out  above,  the  theory  has  been  advanced  that  the  owner  of 
the  copyright  was  timid  about  avowing  his  connection  with  the  poet. 
A  more  natural  reason  would  seem  to  be  that  he  was  unable  to  print 
the  book  at  first,  through  losses,  in  the  Fire  perhaps,  of  presses  and 
types.  Such  a  theory  would  seem  to  derive  weight  from  the  fact  that 
the  issues  of  1668  and  1669  which  bear  his  name  do  not  give  an  ad- 
dress, and  it  is  not  until  the  second  edition  of  1674  that  we  find  him 
"next  door  to  the  Golden  Lion  in  Aldersgate-Hreet." 

The  original  selling  price  of  the  volume  was  three  shillings.  The 
prices  now  vary  according  to  the  sequence  of  the  title-pages.  A  copy 
of  the  first  issue  sold  in  New  York  in  1901  for  eight  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars. 

The  volume  has  no  introductory  matter,  but  begins  at  once  with 
the  lines  "  Of  Mans  Firfl  Difobedience " ;  Simmons  added  the  fol- 
lowing note  to  the  second  edition :  "  There  was  no  Argument  at  firll 
intended  to  the  Book,  but  for  the  fatisfaction  of  many  that  have  de- 
fired  it,  is  procured."  The  printer  adopted  a  very  useful  custom  in 
numbering  the  lines  of  the  poem.  He  set  the  figures  down  by  tens  in 
the  margin,  within  the  double  lines  that  frame  the  text. 

Quarto.     The  first  edition  with  the  first  title-page. 

Collation:  Two  leaves  without  signatures ;  A—Z,  and  Aa—Vv2, 
in  fours.      Without  pagination. 


JOHN   BUNYAN 
(1628— 1688) 

34.  The  I  Pilgrims  Progrefs  |  [Eleven  lines]  By  John  Bun- 
yan.  |  Licenfed  and  Entered  according  to  Order.  | 
London,  |  Printed  for  Nath.  Ponder  at  the  Peacock  |  in 
the  Poultrey  near  Cornhil,  1678. 

In  1672  Bunyan  was  released  from  the  gaol,  which,  possibly  with  a 
brief  interval,  had  been  his  "close  and  uncomfortable"  home  for 
twelve  years ;  and  Ponder,  who,  for  his  connection  with  his  famous 
client,  was  called  "  Bunyan's  Ponder,"  entered  the  imperishable  story, 
written  in  "similitudes,"  at  the  Stationers'  Hall,  December  22,  1677. 
The  customary  fee  of  sixpence  being  duly  paid,  early  in  the  following 
year  the  book  was  licensed,  and  soon  after  published  at  one  shilling 
sixpence. 

Its  success  was  very  great :  the  first  year  saw  a  second  edition,  and 
the  year  following  a  third,  each  with  important  additions. 

Southey  stated,  in  1830,  when  he  put  out  a  new  edition  of  the  book, 
that  there  was  no  copy  of  the  first  edition  known,  but  since  then  five 
have  been  unearthed,  two  of  which  are  perfect. 

The  portrait  of  Bunyan  engraved  by  Robert  White  makes  our  copy 
unique.  It  shows  the  author  Ijring  asleep  over  a  lion's  den,  while 
above  him  Christian  is  represented  on  his  journey.  Until  1886,  when 
this  volume  was  brought  to  light,  the  third  edition  was  supposed 
to  be  the  first  to  have  a  picture  of  the  author;  but  now  it  seems 
quite  certain  that  other  volumes  of  the  first  edition  may,  like  this, 
have  had  the  print.  In  the  edition  of  1679,  the  label  of  the  city 
from  which  the  Pilgrim  was  journeying,  called  "Vanity"  here,  was 
changed  to  "  Destruction." 

The  price  paid  for  this  volume,  when  it  was  sold  at  auction  in  1901, 
was  fourteen  hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds. 

82 


JOHN   BUNYAN  83 

The  second  part  of  the  Filgrim^s  I^ogress  appeared  in  1684.  It 
depends  more  upon  reflected  than  intrinsic  merit ;  but  copies  of  the 
first  edition  are  even  rarer  than  those  of  the  first  edition  of  the  first 
part. 

Octavo. 

Collation  :  A-Q^,  in  eights.     Portrait. 


JOHN   DRYDEN 

(163 1 — 1700) 

35.  Absalom  |  And  |  Achitophel.  |  A  |  Poem.  |  ...  Si 
Propius  ftes  |  Te  Capiet  Magis.  .  .  .  |  London,  | 
Printed  for  J.  T.  and  are  to  be  Sold  by  W.  Davis  in  j 
Amen -Corner,  1681. 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  here  typified  as  Achitophel  for  his  share  in 
the  conspiracy  to  place  the  young  Duke  of  Monmouth,  Absalom,  on 
the  throne,  was  committed  to  the  Tower  in  July,  1681  ;  and  this  satire 
appeared  in  November,  just  before  the  Grand  Jury  acquitted  him. 
Notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the  work,  its  success  was  unpre- 
cedented. We  are  told  that  Samuel  Johnson's  father,  a  bookseller 
of  Litchfield,  said  that  he  could  not  remember  a  sale  of  equal  rapidity, 
except  that  of  the  reports  of  the  Sacheverell  trial. 

The  author's  name  does  not  appear  in  the  book ;  nor  yet  in  the 
second  edition,  to  which  Tonson  added  two  unsigned  poems  "To  the 
unknown  author." 

Jacob  Tonson,  the  pubhsher  of  the  work,  was  one  of  the  notable 
figures  in  the  annals  of  book-publishing  in  England,  and  his  name  is 
inseparably  connected  with  some  of  the  most  important  literary 
ventures  of  the  period :  with  those  of  Milton,  Addison,  Steele,  Con- 
greve,  but  above  all  with  those  of  Dryden.  Basil  Kennett  wrote  in 
1696  :  "Twill  be  as  impossible  to  think  of  Virgil  without  Mr,  Dryden, 
as  of  either  without  Mr.  Tonson."  He  was  so  poor  when  he  began 
business  that  he  is  said  to  have  borrowed  the  twenty  pounds  necessary 
to  the  purchase  of  the  first  play  of  Dryden's  that  he  published ;  but, 
thanks  to  his  shrewdness,  and  to  the  success  of  his  ventures,  he  died 
in  affluent  circumstances,  having  fully  earned  the  title  of  "prince  of 

84 


JOHN   DRYDEN  85 

booksellers."     He  was  the  founder  of  the  famous  Kit-Cat  Club,  and 
in  spite  of  Dryden's  ill-tempered  lines, 

"With  leering  looks,  bull-faced  and  freckled  fair, 
With  two  left  legs,  with  Judas-coloured  hair, 
And  frowsy  pores  that  taint  the  ambient  air," 

he  was  not  unliked  by  his  clients  and  friends. 

The  only  decoration  in  the  book  consists  of  a  head-band  preceding 
the  poem,  and  an  initial  letter.  In  some  copies  the  head-band  is 
pieced  out  to  the  width  of  the  type  page  with  small  ornaments. 

Folio. 

Collation:  Two  leaves  without  signatures;  B-I^  in  twos. 


JOHN    LOCKE 
(1632— 1704) 

36.  An  I  Essay  |  Concerning  |  Humane  Understanding.  | 
In  Four  Books.  [Quotation,  Group  of  Ornaments] 
London :  |  Printed  by  Eliz.  Holt,  for  Thomas  Baffet,  at 
the  I  George  in  Fleet-ftreet,  near  St  Dunftan's  |  Church. 
MDCXC. 

Locke's  two  previous  works  had  been  issued  anonymously ;  but  this 
book,  while  it  has  no  name  on  the  title-page,  has  the  author's  name 
signed  at  the  foot  of  the  dedication  to  Thomas,  Earl  of  Pembroke ; 
a  dedication  of  such  fulsome  compliment  that  even  Pope,  who  called 
Locke  his  philosophic  master,  is  said  to  have  thought  he  could  never 
forgive  it.  In  the  first  edition,  that  appeared  early  in  the  year,  the 
dedication  is  not  dated,  but  "Dorset  Coiut,  May  24,  1689,"  appears 
in  all  the  following  issues. 

Basset  paid  thirty  pounds  for  the  copyright  of  the  work,  and  later 
agreed  to  give  six  bound  copies  of  every  subsequent  edition,  and  ten 
shillings  for  every  sheet  of  additional  matter. 

Some  copies  of  the  first  edition  have  the  imprint :  Printed  for  Tho. 
Baffet,  and  fold  by  Edw.  Mory  \  at  the  Sign  of  the  Three  Bibles  in  St. 
PauVs  Church-  Yard.  MDCXC.  They  probably  belong  to  an  earlier  is- 
sue :  the  two  ss  in  Essay,  which  were  here  printed  upside  down,  were  set 
right  in  the  title-pages  of  the  issue  facsimiled ;  and  the  group  of  print- 
er's ornaments,  here  placed  irregularly,  were  straightened  in  our  copy. 

In  August,  1692,  Locke  writes:  "I  am  happy  to  tell  you  that  a 
new  edition  of  my  book  is  called  for,  which,  in  the  present  turmoil  of 
the  protestant  world,  I  consider  very  satisfactory."  The  following 
month  of  September  brought  the  book  again  before  the  public,  and  by 
the  year  1800  twenty  different  editions  had  been  published. 

86 


JOHN   LOCKE  87 

The  first  edition  was  full  of  faults  that  the  second  aimed  to  correct. 
"  Befides  what  is  already  mentioned,  this  Second  Edition  has  the  Sum- 
maries of  the  several  §  §.  not  only  Printed,  as  before,  in  a  Table  by 
themfelves,  but  in  the  Margent  too.  And  at  the  end  there  is  now  an 
Index  added.  Thefe  two,  with  a  great  number  of  fliort  additions, 
amendments,  and  alterations,  are  advantages  of  this  Edition,  which  the 
bookseller  hopes  will  make  it  fell.  For  as  to  the  larger  additions  and 
alterations,  I  have  obliged  him,  and  he  has  promifed  me  to  print  them 
by  themfelves,  fo  that  the  former  Edition  may  not  be  wholly  lofl  to 
thofe  who  have  it,  but  by  the  inferting  in  their  proper  places  the  paf- 
fages  that  will  be  imprinted  alone,  to  that  purpofe,  the  former  Book 
may  be  made  as  little  defective  as  pofiible." 

The  amendments  and  alterations  were  printed  on  separate  slips  of 
paper,  which  were  given  to  purchasers  of  the  first  edition  to  be 
pasted  into  their  copies;  certainly  an  ingenious  if  not  altogether 
satisfactory  way  of  keeping  abreast  with  the  author's  mind.  It  must 
have  been  considered  useful,  however,  for  the  same  plan  was  resorted 
to  with  the  fomth  edition. 

"Our  friend  Dr.  Locke,  I  am  told,  has  made  an  addition  to  his  ex- 
cellent 'Essay,'  which  may  be  had  without  purchasing  the  whole 
book,"  said  the  thrifty  Evelyn  to  the  careful  Pepys,  who  replied: 
"  Dr.  Locke  has  set  a  useful  example  to  future  reprinters.  I  hope  it 
will  be  followed  in  books  of  value."  A  copy  of  the  book  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  which  has  its  little  slips  all  carefully  pasted  in,  has 
a  note  on  the  fly-leaf,  written  by  its  owner : 

"  Here  is  observable  the  honesty  of  the  great  Mr.  Locke  in  printing 
for  the  purchasers  of  this  edition  the  improvements  made  in  the 
second." 

Folio. 

Collation  :  A,  four  leaves ;  \a\,  two  leaves/  B—Z,  Aa—Zz,  and  Aaa— 
Ccc,  in  fours. 


WILLIAM  CONGREVE 

(1670 — 1729  ) 

37-  The  I  Way  of  the  World,  |  A  |  Comedy.  |  As  it  is 
Acted  I  At  The  |  Theatre  in  Lincoln's-Inn-Fields,  |  By  | 
His  Majefty's  Servants.  |  Written  by  Mr.  Congreve.  | 
[Quotation]  London :  |  Printed  for  Jacob  Tonfon,  within 
Gray's- Inn- Gate  next  |  Gray's- Inn-Lane.     1700. 

This  was  the  last  of  Congreve's  plays  to  be  performed  upon  the 
stage.  It  was  presented  by  Betterton's  company,  but  was  a  failure. 
"The  unkind  Reception  this  excellent  comedy  met  with,"  said  Charles 
Wilson,  "  was  truly  the  Caufe  of  Mr.  Congreve's  jufl  Refentment ;  and 
upon  which,  I  have  often  heard  him  declare,  that  he  had  form'd  a 
ftrong  Refolution  never  more  to  concern  himfelf  with  Dramatic 
Writings." 

Quarto. 

Collation:  A^  three  leaves;  a,  two  leaves;  B-N2,  in  fours. 


EDWARD    HYDE 

FIRST    EARL    OF    CLARENDON 
(1609 1674) 

38.  The  I  History  |  Of  The  |  Rebellion  and  Civil  Wars  | 
In  I  England,  |  [Five  lines]  Written  by  the  Right  Hon- 
ourable I  Edward  Earl  of  Clarendon,  |  [Two  lines,  Quo- 
tations] Volume  The  First  [Vignette]  Oxford,  |  Printed 
at  the  Theatre,  An.  Dom.  MDCCII.  [-MDCCIV]. 

Begun  in  April,  1641,  and  finished  during  the  period  of  Clarendon's 
exile,  which  extended  from  1667  until  his  death,  the  History  was  pre- 
pared for  printing  under  the  direction  of  Lavuence  Hyde,  Earl  of 
Rochester,  who  received  assistance  from  Dr.  Henry  Aldrich,  Dean  of 
Christ  Church,  and  Thomas  Sprat,  Bishop  of  Rochester.  Rochester 
wrote  the  introduction  and  dedications. 

On  the  verso  of  the  title-page  of  the  first  volume  we  find  "  Im- 
primatur. Ro.  Hander  Vice-Can.  Oxon.  Apr.  29.  1702.";  the  second 
volume  is  signed  "  Guil  Delaune  Vice-Can,  Oxon.  Sept.  15, 1703,"  and 
the  third,  by  Delaune,  "  Octob.  16,  1704." 

There  is  no  dedication  to  the  first  volume,  which  begins  at  once 
with  the  preface ;  but  the  second  and  third  volumes  are  dedicated  to 
the  queen.  In  the  last  two  volumes  a  proclamation  by  her  Majesty, 
dated  June  24,  1703,  states  that  :  "whereas  Our  Trufly  and 
Wellbeloved  William  Delaune,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  and  Vice-Chan- 
cellor  of  Our  Univerfity  of  Oxford,  has  humbly  prefented  unto  US, 
in  the  behalf  of  the  faid  Univerfity,  that  They  have  at  Great  Ex- 
pence  already  Publiihed  One  Volume  of  the  late  Earl  of  Claren- 
don's Hiflory,  and  intend  in  a  (hort  time  to  Publifh  the  Second  and 
Third  Volumes  for  Compleating  the  Work ;  and  the  fole  Right  of  the 
Copy  of  the  faid  Work  being  Vefled  in  Otu:  Univerfity  of  Oxford,  and 
They  having  humbly  befought  US  to  Grant  Them  Our  Royal  Privi- 
ledge  and  Licence  for  the  fole  Printing  and  Publilhing  the  fame  for 
the  Term  of  Fourteen  Years;  ...  do  therefore  hereby  Give  and 
Grant  ...  the  same."     This  refers  to  the  fact  that  Clarendon,  who 

89 


90  EDWARD    HYDE 

had  been  chancellor  of  the  University  from  1660  until  he  went  into 
exile,  provided  in  his  will  that  the  profits  from  the  sale  of  copies  of  the 
History  should  belong  to  the  University  and  should  be  expended  in  erect- 
ing a  building  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Press,  founded  in  "  1468." 

Previously,  and  at  the  time  of  the  printing  of  the  book,  the  work  of 
the  University  Press  was  done  in  the  "  Theatre,"  a  view  of  which  is 
given  at  the  left  of  the  figure  of  Minerva,  in  the  vignette  on  the  title- 
page.  This  was  the  Sheldonian  Theatre,  built  from  designs  by  Christo- 
pher Wren,  at  the  expense  of  Archbishop  Gilbert  Sheldon,  who  suc- 
ceeded Lord  Clarendon  as  chancellor.  It  was  opened  in  1669,  and 
was  used  for  various  academic  purposes,  as  well  as  for  the  home  of  the 
Press.  Clarendon's  design  was  fulfilled  in  17 13;  and  the  Clarendon 
Building,  as  it  was  called,  was  occupied  until  it  was  outgrown,  and  the 
Clarendon  Press,  for  under  this  name  it  was  now  equally  well  known, 
was  removed  once  more,  in  1830,  to  its  present  quarters. 

The  vignette,  with  its  interesting  glimpse  of  the  buildings  near  the 
Theatre,  is  signed  "  delin  M3urg.  fculp.  Univ.  Ox.,"  in  the  first  two  vol- 
umes, and  "delin  MBurghers  fculpt,  Univ.  Ox.  1704,"  in  the  third, 
where  the  plate  also  shows  other  signs  of  having  been  gone  over  or 
reengraved.*  Beside  these  vignettes,  the  work  is  ornamented  with  am- 
bitious copper-plate  head-  and  tail-pieces,  and  initial  letters,  some  un- 
signed, but  probably  all  by  Burg.  A  portrait  of  Clarendon,  occurs  as  a 
frontispiece  in  each  of  the  three  volumes.  It  is  after  the  painting  by 
Sir  Peter  Lely,  and  was  engraved  in  1700  by  Robert  White,  a  prolific 
producer  of  portraits  framed  with  borders  that,  in  most  cases,  were  less 
tasteful  than  this  one,  with  its  mace,  bag,  and  coat-of-arms.  The  inscrip- 
tion reads :  ''  Edward  Earle  of  Clarendon,  Lord  High  Chancellor  of 
England,  and  Chancellor  of  the  Univerfity  of  Oxford.  An?  Dni  1667." 

The  plate  for  the  third  volume  has  been  much  worked  over,  if  not 
entirely  redrawn  in  a  slavish  copy.  White's  name  is  erased,  and  Burg's 
appears  in  its  stead.  Some  copies  of  all  three  volumes  of  the  first  edi- 
tion are  dated  1704;  while  others  show  a  confusion  of  dates,  and  the 
portraits  do  not  follow  the  order  here  described. 

Folio.     Large  paper  copy. 

Collation:    Three  volumes.     TJiree portraits. 

*  P.  L.  Lamborn  used  a  similar  idea  for  an  ornament  which  he  engraved 
for  the  Cambridge  University  Press  about  1761. 


THE   TATLER 

39.  The  I  Lucubrations  |  Of  |  Ifaac  Bickerftaff  Efq;  | 
Vol.  I.  I  [Quotation]  London,  |  Printed:  And  fold 
by  John  Morphew,  near  Stationers-Hall.  MDCCX. 
[-MDCCXI.]  Note.  The  Bookbinder  is  defired  to  place  the 
Index  after  [Tatler,  No.  114]  which  ends  the  Firll  Volume  in  Folio. 

The  first  number  of  the  Lucubrations,  a  folio  sheet  headed  with  the 
title  The  Tatler,  and  ending  with  the  imprint  London :  Tinted  for  the 
Author,  1 709,  appeared  on  Tuesday,  April  12.  It  was  issued  thereafter 
three  times  a  week,  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  "  for  the 
convenience  of  the  post." 

Public  interest  having  displayed  itself  in  a  sufficiently  emphatic 
manner,  the  "Author"  evidently  felt  justified  in  engaging  a  permanent 
printer,  and  the  imprint  of  the  fifth  number  reads :  "  Sold  by  John 
Morphew  near  Stationers- Hall ;  where  Advertifements  are  taken  in." 

The  first  four  numbers  were  distributed  free  as  a  kind  of  advertise- 
ment. Then,  "  Upon  the  humble  Petition  of  the  Running  Stationers, 
&c.,"  they  were  sold  at  one  penny.  But  a  charge  of  halfpence  was 
added  after  the  twenty-sixth  number,  "  Whereas  Several  Gentlemen 
have  defir'd  this  Paper,  with  a  blank  Leaf  to  write  Bufinefs  on,  and 
for  the  convenience  of  the  pod." 

"  Quidquid  agunt  homines  nostri  farrago  libelli "  is  the  motto  printed 
at  the  head  of  the  first  forty  numbers,  and  "  Celebrare  domestica 
facta"  on  Nos.  41  and  42,  but  after  that  special  mottoes  were  used. 
The  single  numbers  usually  bear  the  name  of  "  Lsaac  Bickerstaff,  Esq, 
aged  sixty-four,  an  old  man,  a  philosopher,  an  humorist,  an  astrologer 
and  a  censor,"  but  sometimes  other  members  of  his  family  appear  in 
his  stead,  especially  his  half-sister  Jenny  Distaff,  and  her  husband. 

Number  271,  dated  January  2,  171 1,  omits  Bickerstaff's  name,  and 
the  whole  paper,  except  for  some  advertisements  at  the  end,  is  given 
to  a  letter  signed  by  Steele,  in  which  he  says :   "  The  Printer  having 

91 


92  THE   TATLER 

informed  me  that  there  are  as  many  of  thefe  Papers  printed  as  will 
make  Four  Volumes,  I  am  now  come  to  the  End  of  my  Ambition  in 
this  Matter,  and  have  nothing  further  to  fay  to  the  World,  under  the 
Character  of  Ifaac  Bickerjlaff.  This  Work  has  indeed  for  fome  time 
been  difagreeable  to  me,  and  the  Purpofe  of  it  wholly  loft  by  my  being 
fo  long  underftood  as  the  Author.  .  .  .  All  I  can  now  do  for  the 
further  Gratification  of  the  Town,  is  to  give  them  a  faithful  Index  and 
Explication  of  Paffages  and  AUufions.  .  .  ."  The  index,  called  "  A 
Faithful  Index  of  the  Dull  as  well  as  Ingenious  PalTages  in  the 
Tatlers,"  bears  at  the  end  the  important  note,  "  [The  Price  of  thefe 
Two  Sheets,  Three  Pence.]"  The  "  Explication  of  paffages "  was 
made  in  "  The  Preface,"  which,  in  our  copy,  is  bound  after  the  dedi- 
cations of  the  second  volume.  For,  as  it  will  thus  be  seen,  Steele 
bethought  himself  to  add  further  to  the  gratification  of  the  public  by 
printing  two  title-pages  and  four  dedications,  on  folio  sheets,  for  the 
benefit  of  those  subscribers  who  might  wish  to  bind  their  copies. 

The  title-page  of  the  second  volume  is  like  the  first,  only  it  is  dated 
1 7 1 1 ;  and  the  foot-note  reads :  J^^  "  Note,  The  Bookbinder  is  defired 
to  place  the  Index  after  [Tatler  No.  271.]  which  ends  the  fecond 
Volume  in  Folio."  The  index  to  the  Tatlers  of  this  volume  has  the 
note:  "[The  Price  of  thefe  Three  Sheets  and  a  Half,  Six  Pence.]" 
The  notes  on  the  dedications,  and  the  fact  that  while  the  folio 
sheets  made  only  two  volumes,  foiu-  dedications  were  issued,  shows  us 
that  the  binding  of  the  current  sheets  was  an  afterthought,  and  that 
the  quarto  edition  in  four  volumes  was  relied  upon  to  keep  alive  the 
lucubrations.  Thus  the  quarto  edition  dedications  were  made  to  do 
double  service. 

In  its  present  form  the  first  volume  is  dedicated  anonymously  to 
Mr.  Arthur  Mayn waring,  while  the  second  has  the  other  three  dedi- 
cations. One,  to  Edward  Wortley  Montague,  signed  Isaac  Bickerstaflf, 
has  the  note:  "The  Dedication  foregoing  belongs  to  the  Second 
Volume  of  Tatlers  in  Octavo;  which  begins  with  N°  51,  and  ends 
with  N°  114".  One,  to  William,  Lord  Cowper,  signed  Richard 
Steele,  has  the  note :  "  The  foregoing  Dedication  belongs  to  the  Third 
Volume  of  Tatlers  in  Octavo,  which  begins  with  N?  115,  and  ends 
with  N°  189."  The  last  one,  dedicated  to  Charles,  Lord  HaUfax,  also 
signed  by  Steele,  has  a  note  which  reads :  "  This  Dedication  belongs 
to  the  Fourth  Volume  of  Tatlers  in  Octavo,  which  begins  with  N°  190, 
and  ends  with  N°  271." 


THE  TATLER  93 

Aitken  tells  us  that,  "  Like  other  publications  of  the  time,  the  succes- 
sive numbers  of  the  Tatler  were  reprinted  in  Dublin  and  Edinburgh,  as 
they  came  out.  The  Dublin  issue  was  in  quarto  form,  the  Edinburgh 
paper  a  folio  sheet,  rather  smaller  than  the  original,  and  with  a  fresh 
set  of  advertisements  of  interest  to  local  readers." 

In  No.  102,  our  editor  says  of  the  octavo  edition : 

"  Whereas  I  am  informed,  That  there  is  a  fpiuious  and  very  incor- 
rect Edition  of  thefe  Papers  printed  in  a  fmall  Volume ;  Thefe  are  to 
give  Notice,  That  there  is  in  the  Prefs,  and  will  fpeedily  be  publilhed, 
a  very  neat  Edition,  fitted  for  the  Pocket,  on  extraordinary  good 
Paper,  a  new  Brevier  Letter,  like  the  Elzevir  Editions,  and  adorned 
with  feveral  Cuts  by  the  befl  Artifls.  To  which  is  added,  a  Preface, 
Index,  and  many  Notes,  for  the  better  Explanation  of  thefe  Lucubra- 
tions. By  the  Author.  Who  has  revifed,  amended,  and  made  many 
Additions  to  the  Whole."  In  the  last  number  he  says  again :  "  The 
Third  Volume  of  thefe  Lucubrations  being  jufl  finifh'd,  on  a  large 
Letter  in  Octavo,  fuch  as  pleafe  to  fubfcribe  for  it  on  a  Royal  Paper, 
to  keep  up  their  Sets,  are  defired  to  fend  their  Names  to  Charles 
Lillie,  Perfumer,  at  the  Corner  of  Beauford-Buildings,  in  the  Strand, 
or  John  Morphew  near  Stationers  Hall,  where  the  Firfl  and  Second 
Volumes  are  to  be  deliver'd." 

The  price  of  the  corrected  work  in  four  quarto  volumes,  if  bought 
of  the  printer,  was  ^i  per  volume  on  royal  paper,  and  ten  shillings 
on  medium  paper;  and  it  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  the  work  met 
with  so  great  a  success  that  there  was  hardly  a  name  eminent  at  the 
time  which  was  not  subscribed. 

A  copy  in  the  British  Museum  has  for  a  frontispiece  a  portrait  of 
"  Isaac  Bickerstaff  Esq.  Engraved  and  fold  by  John  Sturt  in  Golden- 
Lion  Court  in  Alderfgate  Street  Price  Six  Pence.  MDCCX."  and 
signed  B.  L  ens/en^  delineavit. 

Folio. 

Collation  :  Two  volumes.  No  signatures.  Volume  I :  iv  pp. 
[114  //.],  iv  pp.     Volume  II:  viiipp.  [271  //.],  vi pp. 


THE  SPECTATOR 

40.  Numb.  I  I  The  Spectator  |  Non  fumum  ex  fulgore,  fed 
ex  fumo  dare  lucem  |  Cogitat  ut  fpeciofa  dehinc  miracula 
promat.  Hor.  |  To  be  continued  every  Day.  |  Thurf- 
day,  March  I.  171 1.  [At the  end]  London:  Printed  for 
Sam.  Buckley,  at  the  Dolphin  in  Little  Britain;  and 
sold  by  A.  Baldwin  in  Warwick- Lane. 

The  last  Tatler  had  appeared  in  the  previous  January :  the  new  paper 
hke  its  predecessor  came  out  in  single  folio  sheets,  but,  as  may  be 
seen  above,  its  editors  considered  the  demand  sufficient  to  warrant  its 
daily  publication. 

The  first  fifteen  numbers  bore  the  imprint  here  given,  with  the  addi- 
tional information,  after  the  second  number,  "where  Advertisements 
are  taken  in."  Buckley  paid  Addison  and  Steele  ^575,  on  November 
10,  1 71 2,  for  a  half-share  in  the  copyright  of  the  paper  and  in  the 
numbers  not  yet  published.  On  October  13,  17 14,  he  transferred  this 
assignment  to  Jacob  Tonson,  Jr.,  whose  name  appears  October  2, 
171 2,  in  place  of  that  of  Baldwin's  and  of  "  Chales  Lillie,  Perfumer, 
at  the  Corner  of  Beaufort-Buildings  in  the  Strand,"  who  had  sold  the 
sheet  from  the  sixteenth  number,  dated  March  19,  1 7 1 1,  until  that  time. 

On  December  6,  1712,  the  following  notice  by  Steele  appeared, 
and  as  it  sums  up  briefly  the  main  points  in  the  Spectator's  successful 
career,  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  text  for  the  succeeding  notes. 

"  I  have  nothing  more  to  add,  but  having  fwelled  this  Work  to  Five 
hundred  and  fifty-five  Papers,  they  will  be  difpofed  into  feven  Vol- 
umes, four  of  which  are  already  publifli'd,  and  the  three  others  in  the 
Prefs.  It  will  not  be  demanded  of  me  why  I  now  leave  off,  tho'  I 
mufl  own  my  felf  obliged  to  give  an  Account  to  the  Town  of  my  Time 
hereafter,  fince  I  retire  when  their  Partiality  to  me  is  fo  great,  that  an 

94 


THE   SPECTATOR  95 

Edition  of  the  former  Volumes  of  Spectators  of  above  Nine  thoufand 
each  Book  is  already  fold  off,  and  the  Tax  on  each  half  Sheet  has 
brought  into  the  Stamp-Office  one  Week  with  another  above  20  1.  a 
Week  arifmg  from  this  fmgle  Paper,  notwithflanding  it  at  first  reduced 
it  to  lefs  than  half  the  number  that  was  ufually  Printed  before  this 
Tax  was  laid." 

Volumes  i  and  2,  printed  in  octavo,  were  bound  up,  and,  dedi- 
cated to  Lord  Somers  and  Lord  Halifax,  were  issued  in  1 7 1 2 ;  vol- 
umes 3  and  4,  with  dedications  to  Henry  Boyle  and  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough,  came  out  the  next  year ;  and  the  remaining  three,  with 
dedications  to  the  Marquis  of  Wharton,  Earl  of  Sunderland,  and 
Sir  Paul  Methuen,  were  also  pubhshed  in  1713.  With  the  help  of 
Eustace  Budgell,  Addison  issued  a  continuation  of  the  paper  in  17 14, 
which,  when  it  made  enough  numbers  for  a  volume,  was  issued  with  a 
dedication  to  Will  Honeycomb,  in  1715.  An  edition  in  duodecimo 
was  also  published.  A  few  copies  on  large  paper  sold  at  one  guinea 
a  volume. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  exact  number  of  copies 
circulated,  all  founded  on  the  facts  given  in  the  Spectator  itself.  In 
No.  10,  Addison  says  that  there  were  already  3000  copies  distributed 
every  day.  "So  that  if  I  allow  Twenty  Readers  to  every  Paper, 
which  I  look  upon  as  a  modefl  Computation,  I  may  reckon  about 
Threefcore  thoufand  Difciples  in  London  and  Weflminster."  On  July  23, 

171 1,  he  wrote:  "...  my  Bookfeller  tells  me,  the  Demand  for  thefe 
my  Papers  increafes  daily,"  and  on  December  31  he  repeated,  "I 
find  that  the  Demand  for  my  Papers  has  encreafed  every  Month 
fince  their  firfl  appearance  in  the  World."    On  the  ist  of  August, 

1 712,  St,  John's  Stamp  Act  came  into  force,  by  which  a  halfpenny 
stamp  was  imposed  upon  all  newspapers  and  periodical  sheets.  This 
attempt  to  suppress  free  expression  of  opinion  succeeded  to  some  ex- 
tent ;  many  of  the  papers  of  the  day  ceased  to  exist.  The  Spectator 
continued  as  before,  but  the  price  was  raised  from  one  penny  to 
twopence.  "...  A  payment  of  over  j[^2o,  2i  week  for  stamp  duty 
represents  a  daily  circulation  of  more  than  1,600  copies,  or  10,000  a 
week,  from  the  ist  August  to  the  6th  December  171 2,  and  the  daily 
circulation  before  the  ist  August  would  therefore  be,  according  to 
Steele's  statement,  nearly  4000." 

Two  hundred  and  seventy-four  of  the  635  papers  are  attributed  to 
Addison,  and  from  236  to  240  to  Steele.    Addison  usually  signed  his 


96  THE   SPECTATOR 

essays  with  one  of  the  letters  of  the  name  Clio,  and  Steele  wrote  over 
the  initials  T.  and  R.  Besides  the  two  principal  writers,  Budgell, 
Hughes,  Pamell,  Pope  and  Tickell  are  thought  to  have  contributed 
papers,  but  considerable  uncertainty  exists  with  regard  to  their  work. 

Folio. 

Collation  :  In  numbers. 


DANIEL   DEFOE 

(1661  ? — 1731  ) 

41.  The  I  Life  |  And  |  Strange  Surprizing  |  Adventures  | 
Of  I  Robinson  Crusoe,  |  Of  York,  Mariner:  |  [Nine 
lines]  Written  by  Himfelf  |  London :  |  Printed  for 
W.  Taylor  at  the  Ship  in  Pater- Nofter-  |  Row. 
MDCCXIX. 

The  story  is  told  of  how  Defoe's  manuscript  was  refused  by  many  of 
the  London  publishers  before  William  Taylor,  one  of  the  most  es- 
teemed and  successful  of  them,  accepted  it.  The  book  came  out 
April  25,  and  its  success  was  immediate;  a  second  edition  was 
called  for  only  seventeen  days  after  the  first ;  a  third  followed  twenty- 
five  days  later,  and  a  fourth  on  the  8th  of  August.  The  Farther  |  Ad- 
ventures I  Of  Robinson  Crusoe;  \  Being  the  Second  and  Lajl  Part  |  Of 
His  I  Life  .  .  .  To  which  is  added  a  Map  of  the  World  .  .  .  was 
issued  in  August  of  the  same  year,  and  was  followed  on  August  6, 
1720,  by  a  sequel  called  Serious  Reflections  \  During  |  The  |  Life  .  .  . 
of  Robinson  Crusoe.  Further  evidence  of  the  popularity  of  the  work 
is  furnished  by  the  piracies,  numerous  imitations,  and  translations 
that  appeared  within  a  short  time  after  its  publication. 

Lowndes  and  others  repeat  an  error  of  Dibdin's  in  saying  that 
Robinson  Crusoe  first  appeared  in  the  Origi?ial  London  Post,  or 
Heathcofs  Intelligence,  from  No.  125  to  No.  289  inclusive,  the  lat- 
ter dated  October  7,  17 19.  The  story  was  reprinted  in  that  paper, 
"with  a  care  to  divert  and  entertain  the  reader,"  but  beginning 
October  7,  17 19,  and  ending  with  No.  289,  dated  October  19,  1720. 
The  unsigned  folding  map  was  used  in  this  last  as  well  as  in  the 
foiurth  edition  of  the  first  part.  An  engraving  representing  the  hero 
of  the  story  is  placed  sometimes  as  a  frontispiece.     It  is  signed,  like 

97 


98  DANIEL   DEFOE 

the  map  of  the  island,  "Clark  &  Pine  Sc,"  and,  while  not  remarkable 
for  artistic  merit,  is  certainly  notable  as  having  been  the  model  of  all 
future  conceptions. 

Defoe  sold  all  his  property  in  Robinson  Crusoe  to  Taylor,  who 
gained  a  very  large  fortune  by  it  and  its  successors.  When  that  worthy 
man  died,  only  five  years  after  the  publication  of  the  book,  he  was 
reputed  to  be  worth  between  forty  and  fifty  thousand  pounds.  He 
added  an  introduction  to  The  Serious  Reflections,  in  which  he  says : 

"The  fuccefs  the  two  former  Parts  have  met  with,  has  been  known 
by  the  Envy  it  has  brought  upon  the  Editor,  exprefs'd  in  a  thoufand 
hard  Words  from  the  Men  of  Trade ;  the  Effect  of  that  Regret  which 
they  entertain'd  at  their  having  no  Share  in  it :  And  I  muft  do  the 
Author  the  Justice  to  fay  that  not  a  Dog  has  wag'd  his  Tongue  at 
the  Work  itfelf,  nor  has  a  Word  been  faid  to  leffen  the  Value  of  it, 
but  which  has  been  the  vifible  Effect  of  that  Envy  at  the  good 
Fortune  of  the  Bookfeller." 

A  guarantee  of  this  good  fortune  may  be  seen  in  the  imprint  of  the 
book,  which  now  reads :  "  At  the  Ship  and  Black-Swan  in  Pater- 
noder  Row,"  that  last-named  property  having  been  piuchased  out  of 
the  proceeds  of  its  sale.  After  Taylor's  death,  the  business  was  sold 
to  Thomas  Longman,  the  founder  of  the  firm  of  Longmans,  Green  & 
Co.,  for  over  three  thousand  pounds. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  3  /.,//.  364.  [4  /.]  //.  373.    [9/.],  //.  270,  84  [2/.] 


JONATHAN   SWIFT 

(1667— 1745) 

42.  Travels  |  Into  Several  |  Remote  Nations  |  Of  The  | 
World.  I  In  Four  Parts.  |  By  Lemuel  Gulliver,  |  Firft  a 
Surgeon,  and  then  a  Cap-  |  tain  of  feveral  Ships.  |  Vol. 
I.  I  London :  |  Printed  for  Benj.  Motte,  at  the  |  Middle 
Temple-Gate  in  Fleet-ftreet.  |  MDCCXXVI. 

"  I  have  employed  my  time,  (beside  ditching)  in  finishing,  correcting, 
amending,  and  transcribing  my  travels  in  four  parts  complete,  newly 
augmented  and  intended  for  the  press,  when  the  world  shall  deserve 
them,  or  rather  when  a  printer  shall  be  found  brave  enough  to  ven- 
ture his  ears."  This  is  what  Swift  says  in  a  letter  written  to  Pope, 
and  thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  could  have  been  no  real  doubt 
among  Swift's  friends  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  book,  though  for 
very  obvious  reasons  it  was  found  desirable  to  have  it  published 
anonymously.  Even  after  it  was  issued,  and  had  proved  a  success, 
the  pretense  of  ignorance  of  the  author's  identity  was  kept  up.  Pope 
himself  writes,  November  16,  1726  (the  work  appeared  October  28): 

"  I  congratulate  you  first  on  what  you  call  your  cousin's  wonderful 
book,  which  is  publica  trita  manu  at  present,  and  I  prophesy  will 
hereafter  be  the  admiration  of  all  men  ..."  "Motte,"  (the  publisher 
who  had  been  brave  enough  to  risk  his  ears),  "received  the  copy, 
he  tells  me,  he  knew  not  from  whence,  nor  from  whom,  dropped 
at  his  house  in  the  dark,  from  a  hackney  coach.  By  computating 
the  time  I  found  it  was  after  you  left  England,  so  for  my  part,  I  sus- 
pend my  judgement." 

Swift  was  staying  with  Pope  when  the  manuscript  was  so  mysteri- 
ously left  at  Motte's  door  by  Charles  Ford,  his  intermediary,  through 
whom,  and  Erasmus  Lewis,  all  the  business  was  conducted.  Writing 
under  the  assumed  name  of  Sympson,  Swift  demanded  that  Motte 

99 


loo  JONATHAN   SWIFT 

should  give  him  jQ2oo,  which  the  pubUsher  agreed  to  do  after  six 
months  if  the  success  of  the  book  would  allow.  The  whole  issue 
was  exhausted  within  a  week  after  its  appearance,  and  a  second  edi- 
tion speedily  followed,  making  the  payment,  which  we  learn  was 
promptly  effected,  an  easy  matter.  We  are  told  that  Swift  used  to 
leave  the  profits  of  his  writing  to  the  booksellers ;  but  Gulliver  proved 
the  exception  to  the  rule.  He  says,  in  1735,  "  I  never  got  a  farthing 
by  anything  I  writ,  except  one  about  eight  years  ago,  and  that  was  by 
Mr.  Pope's  prudent  arrangement  for  me."  Motte,  like  Taylor  with  Rob- 
inson Crusoe,  grew  rich  out  of  it ;  or,  as  Swift  puts  it  to  Knightley  Chet- 
wood  in  a  letter  dated  February  14,  1726-7,  in  which  he  still  keeps  up 
the  mystery  of  the  authorship,  " .  .  .  in  Engl**  I  hear  it  hath  made  a 
bookseller  almost  rich  enough  to  be  an  alderman." 

Of  its  success,  Arbuthnot  says,  November  8,  1726:  "Gulliver's 
Travels,  I  believe,  will  have  as  great  a  run  as  John  Bunyan.  It  is  in 
everybody's  hands.  .  ."  Gay  wrote  a  few  days  later:  "The  whole 
impression  sold  in  a  week.  From  the  highest  to  the  lowest  it  is  uni- 
versally read,  from  the  cabinet  council  to  the  nursery."  "  Here  is  a 
book  come  out,"  says  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  "that  all  our 
people  of  taste  run  mad  about.  .  ." 

It  speaks  well  for  Motte's  sagacity  that  he  should  have  been  willing 
to  undertake  the  publishing  of  so  violent  a  book  at  all,  and  we  are  lit- 
tle surprised  that  he  balked  at  certain  passages,  and  that,  to  avoid 
offense,  "  he  got  those  alterations  and  insertions  made  "  which  Swift 
afterward  so  bitterly  resented.  In  the  letter  to  Knightley  Chetwood 
quoted  above.  Swift  said :  "  In  my  Judgment  I  should  think  it  hath 
been  mangled  in  the  press,  for  in  some  parts  it  doth  not  seem  of  a 
piece,  but  I  shall  hear  more  when  I  am  in  England."  In  a  letter  to 
Ford  written  more  than  six  years  later,  we  find  him  still  recurring  to 
the  matter : 

"  Now  you  may  please  to  remember  how  much  I  complained  of 
Motte's  suffering  some  friend  of  his  (I  suppose  it  was  Mr.  Tooke,  a 
clergyman,  now  dead)  not  onely  to  blot  out  some  things  that  he 
thought  might  give  offence,  but  to  insert  a  good  deal  contrary  to  the 
author's  manner  and  style  and  intention.  I  think  you  had  a  Gulliver 
interleaved  and  set  right  in  those  mangled  and  murdered  pages  .  .  . 
To  say  the  truth  I  cannot  with  patience  endiu"e  that  mingled  and 
mangled  manner  as  it  came  from  Motte's  hands,  and  it  will  be  ex- 
tremely difficult  for  me  to  correct  it  by  other  means,  with  so  ill  a 


JONATHAN   SWIFT  loi 

memory  and  so  bad  a  state  of  health."  Swift  had  good  reason  to 
complain  about  this  matter  as  he  did,  personally  and  through  Ford,  who 
wrote  to  Motte  blaming  him  for  the  printer's  gross  errors.  "  Besides 
the  whole  sting  is  absent  out  of  several  passages  in  order  to  soften 
them.  Thus  the  style  is  debased,  the  humours  quite  lost,  and  the 
matter  insipid,"  cries  the  enraged  author.  The  interleaved  copy  was 
forthcoming,  and  the  text  as  corrected  was  printed  in  Dublin  in  1735. 

The  bibliography  of  the  book  is  perplexing.  There  seem  to  have 
been  four  distinct  issues,  or,  rather,  editions,  during  the  first  year;, 
while  copies  of  the  same  edition  show  many  variations.  The  edition  to 
which  the  large  paper  copies  belong  is  usually  called  the  first.  In  it  the 
four  parts  are  paged  separately,  and  the  portrait  of  Gulliver,  signed 
"  Sturt  et.  Sheppard.  Sc,  "  is  found  in  two  states.  One  of  these  states,  evi- 
dently the  first,  has  the  inscription,  "  Captain  Lemuel  Gulliver,  of  Red- 
riff  ^tat.  fuae  58.,"  in  two  Hues  below  the  oval.  The  other  has  the  in- 
scription around  the  oval,  as  follows :  "  Captain  Lemuel  Gulliver  Of 
Redriff  -^tat.  Suae  LVIIL,"  and  beneath,  where  the  name  was  before, 
a  quotation  from  Persius  now  appears. 

The  three  other  editions  have  distinct  differences  of  type,  setting  and 
ornaments.  The  portrait  in  all  of  these  is  of  the  second  state.  Two  of 
these  editions  have  the  parts  paged  separately,  but  one  has  a  continuous 
pagination  for  each  volimie.  One  edition  was  reissued  in  1727,  with 
verses  by  Pope  prefixed.  On  the  title-page  of  the  first  volume  it  is 
called  "  second  edition,"  and  on  that  of  the  second  volume,  "  second 
edition  corrected."  This  edition  was  probably  considered  by  the 
publisher  to  be  the  most  correct,  and  was  therefore,  probably,  the  last 
issued  in  1726. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.  Volume  I:  i  /.,  xvi,  \\% pp.;  3  //.,  164 
//.     Volume  II :  3  //.,  xt^^  pp.;  4  //.,  199//.     Portrait,  four  maps. 


ALEXANDER   POPE 

(1688— 1744) 

43-  An  I  Essay  |  On  |  Man  |  Addrefs'd  to  a  Friend.  | 
Part  I.  I  [Printer's  ornament]  London :  |  Printed  for 
J.  Wilford,  at  the  Three  Flower-de-luces,  be-  |  hind  the 
Chapter- Houfe,  St.  Pauls.  |    [Price  One  Shilling.] 

The  friend  to  whom,  under  the  name  of  Laelius,  the  four  Epistles  that 
make  up  the  Essay  were  addressed,  was  Henry  Saint  John,  first 
Viscount  Bolingbroke,  the  object  of  Pope's  reverence,  and  the  in- 
spirer  of  much  of  his  poetry.  It  seems  to  be  agreed  that  BoHngbroke's 
philosophical  fragments  gave  the  "  philosophical  stamina "  to  this 
work  also. 

The  first  part  appeared  in  February,  the  second,  about  April,  1733  ; 
they  were  undated  and  anonymous,  for  fear  of  charges  against  the 
author's  orthodoxy.  Pope  went  to  considerable  lengths  to  mislead 
the  public  in  this  matter,  but,  as  Dr.  Crowley  says,  the  applause  re- 
ceived "  took  off  all  the  alarm  which  the  writer  might  have  felt  at  his 
new  experiment  in  the  marriage  of  metaphysics  with  immortal  verse." 
"  The  design  of  concealing  myself,"  said  our  author,  "  was  good,  and 
had  its  full  effect.  I  was  thought  a  divine,  a  philosopher  and  what 
not?  and  my  doctrine  had  a  sanction  I  could  not  have  given  to  it." 

In  "Epistle  II,"  as  the  second  part  is  called  on  the  title-page,  there 
is  a  note  "  To  the  Reader  "  which  says :  "  The  Author  has  been  in- 
duced to  publifh  thefe  Epiftles  feparately  for  two  Reafons ;  The  one, 
that  he  might  not  impofe  upon  the  Publick  too  much  at  once  of  what 
he  thinks  incorrect ;  The  other,  that  by  this  Method  he  might  profit 
of  its  Judgement  on  the  Parts,  in  order  to  make  the  Whole  lefs  un- 
worthy of  it."  At  the  end  of  "  Epistle  III,"  which  came  out  the  same 
year,  is  a  note  as  follows :  "  N.  B.  The  Refl  of  this  Work  will  be  pub- 
lifhed  the  next  Winter."      And  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  Epistle,  issued 


ALEXANDER   POPE  103 

about  the  middle  of  January,  1734:  "Lately  Publiflied  the  three 
former  Parts  of  An  Essay  on  Man.  In  Epiftles  to  a  Friend.  Sold 
by  J.  Wilford  at  the  Three  Flower-de-Luces,  behind  the  Chapter- 
Houfe  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard." 

All  four  parts  were  issued  in  octavo  and  quarto,  as  well  as  in  folio. 
The  quarto  edition  bears  the  dates  of  publication.  A  second  edition 
of  the  first  part,  called  "  Epistle  I,  corrected  by  the  Author,"  contained 
a  table  of  contents  to  the  first  three  Epistles.  The  fourth  Epistle  was 
originally  issued  with  such  a  table  called,  "  The  Contents,  Of  the 
Nature  and  State  of  Man,  with  refpect  to  Happiness." 

Pope  intrusted  the  publication  of  the  book  to  John  Wilford,  who 
was  afterward  summoned  before  the  House  of  Lords  for  breach  of 
privilege  in  publishing,  with  the  bookseller,  Edmund  Curll,  the  names 
of  the  titled  correspondents  in  the  advertisement  to  the  quasi-unauthor- 
ized Letters.  Pope  made  the  change  from  Bernard  Lintot,  his  usual 
publisher,  to  Wilford  in  order  to  conceal  his  identity  the  more  com- 
pletely, and  to  add  to  the  mystery  of  authorship. 

The  volume  is  handsome  in  appearance:  it  is  ornamented  with 
initial  letters,  and  woodcut  and  type-metal  head-  and  tail-pieces. 

Folio. 

Collation:    19//.,  i  /.,  18,  20 pp.,  2  //.,  18//.,  i  /. 


JOSEPH    BUTLER 

BISHOP   OF   DURHAM 
(1692— 1752) 

44.  The  I  Analogy  |  Of  |  Religion,  |  Natural  and  Revealed, 
I  [Six  lines]  By  |  Joseph  Butler,  L.L.D.  Rector  of  | 
Stanhope,  in  the  Bifhoprick  of  Durham.  |  [Quotation] 
London :  |  Printed  for  James,  John  and  Paul  Knapton, 
at  the  I  Crown  in  Ludgate  Street.     MDCCXXXVI. 

The  Analogy  ran  into  edition  after  edition,  and  is  reprinted  even  now. 
'*  Few  productions  of  the  human  mind,"  AUibone  tells  us,  "  have 
elicited  the  labours  of  so  many  learned  commentators  as  have  em- 
ployed their  talents  in  the  exposition  of  Butler's  Analogy."  He  gives 
seventeen  editions  with  commentaries,  printed  before  1858.  In  recent 
times  no  less  a  name  than  that  of  Gladstone  may  be  counted  among 
the  number. 

The  Knaptons  were  the  pubhshers  of  Butler's  first  printed  volume, 
Fiftee?i  Sermons,  1726. 

Quarto. 

Collation:   5  //.,  x,  11-2,20 pp. 


104 


THOMAS   PERCY 

BISHOP    OF   DROMORE 
(1729 181I  ) 

45.  Reliques  |  Of  |  Ancient  English  Poetry:  |  [Five  lines] 
Volume  The  First,  |  [Vignette  with  the  words]  Durat 
Opus  Vatum.  \  London :  |  Printed  for  J.  Dodsley  in 
Pall-Mali.  I  MDCCLXV. 

Although  his  name  does  not  appear  upon  the  title-page,  the  author 
signed  it  to  the  dedication  to  Elizabeth,  Countess  of  Northumberland. 
He  offers  the  book,  he  says,  with  some  hesitation,  yet  hopes  that  the 
names  of  so  many  men  of  learning  and  character  among  his  patrons 
and  subscribers  will  "ferve  as  an  amulet  to  guard  him  from  every 
unfavourable  cenfure  for  having  bellowed  any  attention  on  a  parcel  of 
Old  Ballads." 

The  book  came  out  in  February,  after  four  or  five  years  of  active 
preparation.  Johnson  criticised  it,  but  in  the  main  the  work  was  re- 
ceived with  the  verdict,  which  has  held  ever  since,  that  it  marked  an 
epoch.  Dibdin  says  that  when  it  appeared,  the  critics  "  roared  aloud 
for  a  sight  of  the  M  S. ! "  especially  Joseph  Ritson,  the  antiquary,  who 
denied  its  existence.  Dibdin,  however,  saw  the  folio,  and  describes  it 
at  some  length,  besides  quoting  notes  in  the  Bishop's  handwriting,  one 
of  which  is  of  especial  interest : 

"Memorandum.  Northumberland  House  ^  Nov.  1,  x^^x^.  This  very 
curious  old  Manuscript  in  its  present  mutilated  state,  but  unbound  and 
sadly  torn,  I  rescued  from  destruction,  and  begged  at  the  hands  of  my 
worthy  friend  Humphrey  Pitt,  Esq.  then  living  at  ShifTnal  in  Shrop- 
shire, afterwards  of  Prior  Lee  near  that  town ;  who  died  very  lately 


io6  THOMAS   PERCY 

at  Bath:  viz.  in  Summer,  1769.  I  saw  it  lying  dirty  on  the  Floor 
under  a  Bureau  in  ye  Parlour :  being  used  by  the  Maids  to  light  the 
fire.  It  was  afterwards  sent  most  unfortunately  to  an  ignorant  Book- 
binder, who  pared  the  margin,  when  I  put  it  into  Boards  in  order  to 
lend  it  to  Dr.  Johnson." 

James  Dodsley,  the  printer  of  our  charming  volumes,  was  the 
younger  brother  of  Robert,  with  whom,  as  R.  6r»  J.  Dodsley,  he  was 
for  some  time  a  partner,  until,  in  1759,  ^^  became  the  sole  proprietor 
of  the  house.  He  lacked  the  elder  man's  energy,  but  he  carried  on 
an  extensive  and  profitable  business.  He  is  said  to  have  paid  Percy 
100  guineas  for  the  first  edition  of  the  Reliques— not  a  very  large  sum 
for  such  a  work.  Pickf  ord  tells  us,  however,  that "  as  the  Reliques  became 
popular,  and  as  other  editions  were  in  request,  so  did  the  sums  paid  to 
Percy  increase  ;  and  best  of  all,  the  book  attracted  the  notice  of  those 
in  a  high  class,  in  whose  power  it  was  to  forward  and  promote  the 
interests  of  the  editor."  Whatever  the  basis  of  his  relations  with 
Dodsley,  we  have  his  own  word  for  it  that  when  the  third  edition  was 
published  he  "  had  no  share  in  the  property  of  the  impression."  Those 
"  in  a  high  class  "  promoted  our  author  from  one  thing  to  another, 
until,  as  Granger  had  hoped  he  would  do,  "  he  found  himself  sung 
into  a  throne,"  a  reward  quite  as  much  to  his  mind,  no  doubt,  as  any- 
thing Dodsley  could  have  arranged. 

It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  few  authors  of  the  period  were  better 
served  by  their  publisher  than  Percy  was  by  his  in  the  matter  of 
typography.  The  ornament  used  is  also  especially  good.  A  frontis- 
piece to  the  first  volume,  surmounted  by  the  inscription,  "  Non  Om- 
nis  Moriar,"  and  representing  a  harper  delighting  an  audience,  is 
signed  by  Samuel  Wale,  who  was  chiefly  employed  in  designing 
vignettes  and  illustrations  for  books.  He  had  studied  with  Francis 
Hayman,  a  printer  and  maker  of  illustrations,  who,  with  N.  Blakey, 
was  employed  by  Messrs.  Knapton  and  Dodsley  to  execute  the  first 
series  of  historical  prints  designed  by  Englishmen.  The  plate  was 
engraved  by  Charles  Grignion,  or  Grignon,  a  pupil  of  Gravelot  and 
Le  Bas,  who,  like  Wale,  was  much  employed  by  publishers.  Together 
they  illustrated  a  large  number  of  books ;  but  the  charm  of  their  work 
seems  to  be  chiefly  due  to  Grignion.  The  vignettes,  with  the  motto 
"Durat  Opus  Vatum  "  on  the  title-pages  and  the  head-  and  tail-pieces, 
though  unsigned,  were  evidently  designed  and  engraved  by  the  same 
hands. 


THOMAS   PERCY  107 

There  are  three  parts  to  each  volume,  and  each  part  begins  and 
ends  with  a  copper-plate  engraving  illustrative  of  a  ballad.  The  head- 
pieces refer  to  the  first  ballad  in  the  book,  but  the  tail-pieces  have 
legends  showing  where  the  poem  is  found.  On  page  24  of  the  second 
volume,  the  following  note  is  attached  to  the  poem  "  For  the  Victory 
of  Agincourt "  :  "  This  fong  or  hymn  is  given  meerly  as  a  curiofity,  and 
is  printed  from  a  MS  copy  in  the  Pepys  collection,  vol.  I.  folio.  It 
is  there  accompanied  with  the  mufical  notes,  which  are  copied  in  a 
fmall  plate  at  the  end  of  this  volume." 

A  table  of  "  Errata  "  for  all  three  volumes,  an  "  Advertisement," 
and  a  note  "To  the  Binder"  are  found  at  the  end  of  the  first  volume. 
The  Advertisement  reads :  "  The  Editor's  diflance  from  the  prefs  has 
occafioned  fome  miflakes  and  confufion  in  the  Numbers  of  the  feveral 
Poems,  and  in  the  References  from  one  Volume  to  another :  the  latter 
will  be  fet  right  by  the  Table  of  Errata,  and  the  former  by  the  Tables 
of  Contents.  In  the  Second  Volume,  page  129  follows  page  112: 
this  was  merely  an  overfight  in  the  Printer;   nothing  is  there  omitted." 

The  binder  finds  this  caution  addressed  to  him:  "The  Binder  is 
defired  to  take  Notice  that  the  marginal  Numbers  of  the  ifl  and  3^ 
Volumes  are  wrong :  that  the  Sheets  marked  Vol.  i.  are  to  be  bound 
up  as  Volume  The  Third :  and  that  thofe  noted  Vol.  III.  as  Volume 
The  First."  Neither  author  nor  printer  thought  to  tell  us  of  the 
addition  of  "George  Barnwell"  in  eight  leaves,  at  page  224  of 
Volume  III ;  but  perhaps  the  inclusion  was  decided  upon  too  late  for 
the  crowding  in  of  another  note. 

The  notes  are  interesting,  and  are  quoted  here  as  showing  that 
Percy  made  many  changes  in  the  work  even  after  it  was  ready  to  be 
sewed,  perhaps  after  some  copies  had  been  issued.  For  instance,  there 
seems  to  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  changed  the  order  of  the 
volumes  after  they  were  all  printed,  making  the  first  last,  in  order  to 
bring  the  ballads  of  "Chevy  Chase"  and  the  Robin  Hood  cycle  at 
the  beginning.  Two  volumes  of  the  Reliques  without  imprints,  pre- 
served in  the  Douce  collection  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  are  interesting 
in  this  connection  since  they  contain  many  pieces  not  in  the  pub- 
lished edition.  A  note  by  Furnivall,  added  to  Rev.  J.  Pickford's  Life 
of  Percy  which  prefaced  the  Hales  and  Furnivall  Bishop  Percy's 
Folio  Manuscript,  1867,  gives  the  omission  and  changes  in  detail.  We 
quote  only  the  following:  "...  and  the  engraving  at  the  end  of 
Douce's  volume  ii.,  instead  of  being  the  published  rustic  sketch,  is  a 


io8  THOMAS   PERCY 

coat  of  arms,  with  a  lion  and  nnicom  at  the  side  with  Ae  Percy 
motto  '  Elsperance  en  Dieu.'  This  was  wisely  cancelled,  no  doubt, 
as  the  Countess  of  Northumberiand  might  not  then  have  appreci- 
ated the  compliment  of  the  grocer's  son  claiming  kinship  with  her." 

Octavo. 

Collation  :  Three  volumes. 


WILLIAM  COLLINS 

(1721— 1759) 

46.  Odes  I  On  Several  |  Defcriptive  and  Allegoric  |  Sub- 
jects. I  By  William  Collins.  |  [Quotation,  Vignette] 
London :  |  Printed  for  A.  Millar,  in  the  Strand.  | 
M.DCC.XLVII.  I    (Price  One  Shilling.) 

Collins  and  his  friend  Joseph  Waxton,  the  critic,  both  at  the  time  un- 
known, proposed  to  issue  a  volume  of  poems  together:  "  Collins  met 
me  in  Surrey,  at  Guildford  races,  when  I  wrote  out  for  him  my  odes, 
and  he  likewise  communicated  some  of  his  to  me ;  and  being  both  in 
very  high  spirits,  we  took  cburage,  and  resolved  to  join  our  forces,  and 
to  publish  them  immediately."  The  plan,  however,  fell  through  and 
they  finally  published  separately,  though  almost  simultaneously.  This 
work,  though  dated  1747,  really  appeared  in  December,  1746.  War- 
ton's  Odes  on  various  Subjects,  London,  1 746,  reached  a  second  edition, 
but  Collins's  book  was  not  a  success,  and  it  is  said  that,  in  disgust, 
he  burned  the  larger  part  of  the  unsold  edition. 

"  Each,"  wrote  Gray,  "  is  the  half  of  a  considerable  man,  and  one 
the  counterpart  of  the  other.  The  first  [i.e.  Warton]  has  but  little  in- 
vention, very  poetical  choice  of  expression,  and  a  good  ear.  The 
second  [i.e.  Collins]  a  fine  fancy,  modelled  upon  the  antique,  a  bad 
ear,  great  variety  of  words,  and  images  with  no  choice  at  all.  They 
both  deserve  to  last  some  years,  but  will  not."  Time  has  set  Collins 
right. 

The  vignette  on  the  title-page,  representing  a  pan-pipe  and  harp 
surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  fruit,  laurel,  oak,  and  palm,  with  heads  of 
Pan  and  Apollo  at  the  top,  is  by  Gerard  (?)  Van  der  Gucht.  Thin 
woodcut  head-bands  at  the  beginning  of  some  of  the  odes,  and  a  tail- 
piece after  the  first  one,  furnish  all  the  ornament  for  this  pathetic 
volume. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  2  //.,  52//. 

109 


SAMUEL   RICHARDSON 
(1689— 1761) 

47.  Clarissa.  |  Or,  The  |  History  |  Of  A  |  Young  Lady:  | 
[Six  lines]  Publifhed  by  the  Editor  of  Pamela.  |  Vol.  I. 
I  London :  |  Printed  for  S.  Richardfon  :  |  And  Sold  by  A. 
Millar,  over-againft  Catharine-ftreet  in  the  Strand :  |  J. 
and  Ja.  Rivington,  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard:  |  John 
Osborn,  in  Pater-nofter  Row;  |  And  by  J.  Leake,  at 
Bath.  I  M.DCC.XLVIII. 

Pamela  was  written  at  the  suggestion  of  two  booksellers,  Rivington 
and  Osborne,  who  published  it  in  four  volumes  in  1741-42  ;  and  as  it 
proved  a  great  success  its  "Editor"  followed  it  with  Clarissa.  Only 
the  last  five  volumes  appeared  in  1 748,  the  first  two  having  come  out 
the  previous  year. 

In  connection  with  the  mistaken  idea,  which  has  existed,  that  there 
were  eight  volumes  in  the  first  edition,  Mr.  Dobson,  in  his  life  of 
Richardson,  gives  us  these  quotations  from  the  author  himself : 

"  There  were  in  fact,  in  the  first  edition,  not  eight  volumes  but 
seven.  "  I  take  the  liberty  to  join  the  4  Vols,  you  have  of  Clarissa, 
by  two  more,"  says  Richardson  to  Hill  in  an  unpublished  letter  of 
November  7,  1748.  "The  Whole  will  make  Seven ;  that  is,  one  more 
to  attend  these  two.  Eight  crowded  into  Seven  by  a  smaller  Type. 
Ashamed  as  I  am  of  the  ProHxity,  I  thought  I  owed  the  Public  Eight 
Vols,  in  Quantity  for  the  Price  of  Seven  " ;  and  he  adds  a  later  foot- 
note to  explain  that  the  12 mo  book  "was  at  first  published  in  Seven 
Vols,  [and]  Afterwards  by  deferred  Restorations  made  Eight  as  now."" 
Then  Mr.  Dobson  goes  on  to  add  the  following : 

"  Of  the  seven  volumes  constituting  the  first  edition,  two  were  is- 
sued in  November,  1747;   two  more  in  April,  1748  (making  "the  4 


SAMUEL   RICHARDSON  iii 

Vols,  you  have,"  above  referred  to) ;  and  the  remaining  three,  which, 
according  to  Mr.  Urban's  advertisement,  "  compleats  the  whole,"  in 
December,  1748." 

The  second  and  succeeding  volumes  have  the  line.  And  Sold  by 
John  Osborn,  in  Paier-noJler-Row,  added  to  the  imprint,  after  Rich- 
ardson's name. 

Bishop  Warburton  presented  the  author  with  a  preface  in  which  he 
pointed  out  the  variety  of  the  characters  in  the  book,  and  commended 
the  moral  tendency  of  the  work.  This,  by  the  way,  serves  to  re- 
mind us  that  he  afterward  quarrelled  with  Richardson  because  the 
novelist  ventured  to  censure  Pope's  sentiment,  "  Every  woman  is  at 
heart  a  rake." 

In  a  catalogue  like  this,  no  name  has  more  interest  than  that  of 
Samuel  Richardson,  "The  Father  of  the  English  Novel,"  and  a 
printer  and  publisher  of  distinction.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  chose 
the  profession  of  printer,  because  he  thought  that  in  it  he  would  be 
able  to  satisfy  his  craving  for  reading.  After  a  diligent  apprentice- 
ship to  John  Wilde,  whose  daughter  was  his  first  wife,  he  gradually 
won  his  way  until  he  became  one  of  the  leading  printers  of  his  time. 
He  issued  twenty-six  volumes  of  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
though  he  found  the  position  more  honorable  than  lucrative ;  he  was 
the  printer  of  the  Daily  Journal  from  1736  to  1737,  and  of  the  Daily 
Gazetteer  in  1738 ;  he  was  chosen  printer  to  an  interesting  Society  for 
the  Encouragement  of  Learning^  for  whom  he  printed  and  edited  their 
first  and  only  volume.  The  Negociations  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe  in  his 
Embassy  to  the  Ottoman  Porte  from  the  year  1621  to  1628  inclusive. 
He  also  printed,  among  other  books,  an  edition  of  ^sop^s  Eables, 
De  Foe's  Tour  through  Great  Britain,  Young's  Night  Thoughts,  and 
the  second  volume  of  De  Thou's  Historia  Sui  Temporis,  1733.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  Stationers'  Company  in  1689,  and  its  master 
in  1754. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :   Seven  volumes. 


\ 


HENRY   FIELDING 

(1707— 1754) 

48.  The  I  History  |  Of  |  Tom  Jones,  |  A  |  Foundling.  |  In 
Six  Volumes  |  By  Henry  Fielding,  Efq ;  |  [Quotation] 
London:  |  Printed  for  A.  Millar,  over-againft  |  Catha- 
rine-ftreet  in  the  Strand.  |  MDCCXLIX. 

The  announcement  of  the  appearance  of  the  work  in  the  General 
Advertizer  for  February  28,  1749,  reads  as  follows: 

"This  day  is  published,  in  six  vols.,  i2mo,  The  History  of  Tom 
Jones,  A  Foundling. — Mores  hominum  multorum  vidit.  By  Henry 
Fielding  Esq. 

"  It  being  impossible  to  get  sets  bound  fast  enough  to  answer  the 
demand  for  them,  such  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  as  please  may  have 
them  served  in  Blue  Paper  and  Boards,  at  the  price  of  1 6s.  a  set,  of  A. 
Millar,  over  against  Catharine  Street,  in  the  Strand." 

The  sale  was  really  enormous  for  those  days,  and  Millar,  the 
successful  publisher,  could  afford  to  be  generous  to  Fielding,  as  he 
had  been  to  others,  thus  winning  for  himself  the  position  of  a  patron 
as  well  as  publisher.  Johnson  called  him  "the  Maecenas  of  litera- 
ture." "I  respect  Millar, sir ;"  said  he,  "he  has  raised  the  price  of 
literature." 

Horace  Walpole  gives  us  an  account  of  the  dealing  of  this  remark- 
able man  in  this  case.  He  says,  in  a  letter  to  George  Montagu: 
"  Millar,  the  bookseller,  has  done  very  generously  by  him  [Fielding] ; 
finding  '  Tom  Jones  '  for  which  he  gave  him  ^600.  sell  so  greatly,  he 
has  since  given  him  another  ^100." 

A  second  edition  in  four  volumes  was  issued  the  same  year,  and  a 
third,  also  in  four  volumes,  the  year  following.  The  book  has  been 
translated  into  French,  German,  Spanish,  Dutch,  Russian,  and  Swe- 


HENRY   FIELDING  113 

dish.    It  was  frequently  dramatized,  and  was  also  turned  into  a  comic 
opera. 

An  original  document  in  the  possession  of  the  owner  of  the  book 
from  which  the  facsimile  was  made  shows  that  the  value  of  Tom 
Jones  had  not  decreased  with  successive  editions,  or  else  the  various 
partners,  whose  well-known  names  are  signed  to  it,  would  not  have 
thought  it  worth  their  while  to  prosecute. 

"  Memorandum  July,  24.  1770. 
"  At  the  Chapter  Coffee-house,  it  is  agreed  by  the  Partners  in  Joseph 
Andrews  and  Tom  Jones,  to  prosecute  Alexander  Donaldson,  Book- 
seller in  the  Strand,  for  printing  the  above  Books,  in  the  Court  of 
Chancery,  and  do  agree  to  pay  our  respective  Shares  of  the  Expence 
of  the  Proscecution. 

Will  :   Strahan 

Tho!  Longman 

W.  Johnston 

Robert  Horsfield 

Tho :   Cadell 

T  Becket 

RoBiNfoN  &  Roberts 

Hawes,  Clarke  &  Collins 

Stanley  Crowdon 

Edm"!  &  Ch^  Dilly 

Wm.    &   J.    RiCHARDfoN 

Tho?  Lowndes 
Thomas  Caslon" 

Duodecimo. 
Collatiqn  :   Six  volumes. 


THOMAS    GRAY 

(1716— 1771) 

49.  An  I  Elegy  |  Wrote  In  A  |  Country  Church  Yard  | 
London:  |  Printed  for  R.  Dodsley  in  Pall-mall;  |  And 
fold  by  M.  Cooper  in  Pater- nofter- Row.  1751.  |  [Price 
Six-pence.] 

In  1750  Gray  finished  a  poem  which  he  had  begun  eight  years  before, 
and  it  was  circulated  freely,  in  manuscript,  among  his  delighted  friends. 
One  of  them,  Horace  Walpole,  received  the  following  communication 
from  the  author,  dated  at  Cambridge,  February  1 1 ,  1 7  5 1  : 

"  As  you  have  brought  me  into  a  little  sort  of  distress,  you  must 
assist  me,  I  believe,  to  get  out  of  it  as  well  as  I  can. 

"  Yesterday  I  had  the  misfortune  of  receiving  a  letter  from  certain 
gentlemen  (as  their  bookseller  expresses  it),  who  have  taken  the  Maga- 
zine of  Magazines  into  their  hands.  They  tell  me  that  an  ingenious 
Poem,  called  reflections  in  a  Country  Church-yard  has  been  communi- 
cated to  them,  which  they  are  printing  forthwith ;  that  they  are  in- 
formed that  the  excellent  author  of  it  is  I  by  name,  and  that  they  beg 
not  only  his  indulgence,  but  the  honour  of  his  correspondence.  As  I 
am  not  at  all  disposed  to  be  either  so  indulgent  or  so  correspondent  as 
they  desire,  I  have  but  one  bad  way  left  to  escape  the  honour  they 
would  inflict  upon  me ;  and  therefore  am  obliged  to  desire  you  would 
make  Dodsley  print  it  immediately  (which  may  be  done  in  less  than  a 
week's  time)  from  your  copy,  but  without  my  name,  in  what  form  is 
most  convenient  for  him,  but  on  his  best  paper  and  character;  he 
must  correct  the  press  himself,  and  print  it  without  any  interval  be- 
tween the  stanzas,  because  the  sense  is  in  some  places  continued  be- 
yond them ;  and  the  title  must  be, — Elegy,  written  in  a  Country 
Church-yard.  If  he  would  add  a  line  or  two  to  say  it  came  into  his 
hands  by  accident,  I  should  like  it  better.     If  you  behold  the  Maga- 

114 


THOMAS   GRAY  115 

zine  of  Magazines  in  the  light  that  I  do,  you  will  not  refuse  to  give 
yourself  this  trouble  on  my  account,  which  you  have  taken  of  your 
own  accord  before  now.  If  Dodsley  do  not  do  this  immediately,  he 
may  as  well  let  it  alone." 

"  You  have  indeed,  conducted  with  great  decency  my  little  misfor- 
tune : "  (this  was  written  to  Walpole  on  Ash- Wednesday,  after  the 
book  was  published) :  "  you  have  taken  a  paternal  care  of  it,  and  ex- 
pressed much  more  kindness  than  could  have  been  expressed  from  so 
near  a  relation.  But  we  are  all  frail ;  and  I  hope  to  do  as  much  for 
you  another  time. 

"  Nurse  Dodsley  has  given  it  a  pinch  or  two  in  the  cradle,  that  (I 
doubt)  it  will  bear  the  marks  of  as  long  as  it  Hves.  But  no  matter : 
we  have  ourselves  suffered  under  her  hands  before  now ;  and  besides 
it  will  only  look  the  more  careless  and  by  accident  as  it  were.  I  thank 
you  for  your  advertisement  [the  preface,  signed  'The  Editor'],  which 
saves  my  honour,  and  in  a  manner  bien  flatteuse  pour  moi,  who  should 
be  put  to  it  even  to  make  myself  a  compliment  in  good  English." 

Dodsley's  promptness  was  noteworthy ;  on  February  1 6  the  book 
was  issued,  having  been  six  days,  at  most,  in  the  printer's  hands.  The 
author,  even  if  he  had  desired,  could  hardly  have  complained  about 
the  ornaments  on  the  title-page,  since  he  had  given  Dodsley  a  free 
hand.  It  would  be  pleasant  to  see  in  the  woodcuts,  with  their 
death's-heads,  spades,  cross-bones,  hour-glasses,  pickaxes  and  crowns, 
an  argument  for  a  sense  of  decoration,  or  even  of  a  sense  of  humour, 
rather  than  the  evidences  of  a  habit  of  the  use  of  such  things  for 
funeral  sermons. 

Speaking  of  Nurse  Dodsley's  "pinches,"  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  to  Walpole,  dated  March  3,  1751,  proves  of  additional  inter- 
est :  "  I  do  not  expect  any  more  editions ;  as  I  have  appeared  in  more 
magazines  than  one.  The  chief  errata  were  sacred  bower  for  secret j 
hidden  for  kindred  (in  spite  of  dukes  and  classics) ;  and  ''frowning  as 
in  scorn  "  for  smiling.  I  humbly  propose,  for  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Dods- 
ley and  his  matrons,  that  take  awake  for  a  verb,  that  they  should  read 
asleep,  and  all  will  be  right." 

The  two  versions  of  the  poem  probably  appeared  on  the  same  day. 

The  Magazine  of  Magazines  Compiled  from  Original  Pieces,  With 
Extracts  from  the  mofl  celebrated  Books  And  Periodical  Compofctions  Piib- 
lijhed  in  Europe,  was  issued  by  William  Owen,  maker  of  mineral  water, 
at  Homer's  Head,  near  Temple  Bar.     Owen's  compositor,  having  had 


ii6  THOMAS   GRAY 

more  time,  avoided  some  of  the  errors  of  the  printers  of  the  book,  but 
he  fell  into  others  of  his  own ;  and  he  completely  frustrated  Gray's 
desire  to  be  anonymous.  The  poem  is  introduced,  amidst  a  running 
fire  of  talk,  in  this  way :  "  Gentlemen,  faid  Hilario,  give  me  leave  to 
footh  my  own  melancholy,  and  amufe  you  in  a  mofl  noble  manner, 
with  a  fine  copy  of  verfes  by  the  very  ingenious  Mr.  Gray,  of  Peter- 
houfe,  Cambridge. — They  are — "  Stanza's  written  in  a  Country  Church- 
yard."" 

The  book  proved  immensely  popular.  Gray  himself  received  no 
pecuniary  reward  from  it,  having  given  the  copyright  to  Dodsley 
in  accordance  with  a  notion,  very  common  in  the  preceding  century 
but  seeming  quixotic  now,  that  it  was  beneath  a  gentleman  to  receive 
money  from  a  bookseller,  a  view  in  which,  we  are  told,  Dodsley 
warmly  concurred.  Later,  Mason,  Gray's  friend,  attempted  to  regain 
possession  of  the  copyright  by  means  of  litigation. 

We  are  indebted  to  our  Author  for  the  following  bibliographical 
note :  "Publish'd  in  Feb^^,  1 751,  by  Dodsley,  &  went  thro'  four  editions, 
in  two  months;  and  afterwards  a  fifth,  6th,  7th,  &  8th,  9th,  &  loth, 
&  nth;  printed  also  in  1753  with  Mr,  Bentley's  Designs,  of  w'^h  there 
is  a  2d  Edition,  &  again  by  Dodsley  in  his  Miscellany,  Vol.  7th  &  in  a 
Scotch  Collection  call'd  the  Unions  translated  into  Latin  by  Chr 
Anstey,  Esq.,  and  the  Rev?  Mr.  Roberts,  &  published  in  1762,  &  again 
in  the  same  year  by  Rob.  Lloyd,  M.A." 

Dodsley  figures  so  prominently  in  the  publication  of  the  Elegy  that 
we  are  reminded  that  he  was  himself  a  poet  and  also  a  dramatist.  His 
epitaph  in  the  churchyard  of  Durham  cathedral  lays  stress  on  this  point : 

"  If  you  have  any  respect 

for  uncommon  industry  and  merit, 
regard  this  place, 
in  which  are  deposited  the  remains  of 

Mr.  Robert  Dodsley; 
who,  as  an  Authour,  raised  himself 
much  above  what  could  have  been  expected 
from  one  in  his  rank  in  life, 
and  without  a  learned  education ; 

Quarto. 
Collation  :   1 1  J>J>. 


SAMUEL   JOHNSON 

(1709—1784) 

50.  A  I  Dictionary  |  Of  The  |  English  Language:  |  [Ten 
lines]  By  Samuel  Johnson,  A.M.  |  In  Two  Volumes  | 
Vol.  I.  I  [Quotation]  London,  |  Printed  by  W.  Strahan, 
I  For  J.  and  P.  Knapton ;  T.  and  T.  Longman ;  C. 
Hitch  and  L.  Hawes ;  |  A.  Millar;  and  R.  and  J.  Dods- 
ley.  I  MDCCLV. 

Robert  Dodsley  first  suggested  to  Johnson  that  a  dictionary  of  the 
Enghsh  language  would  take  well  with  the  public ;  though  Johnson 
afterward  told  Boswell  that  he  had  long  thought  of  it  himself.  But  it 
was  Dodsley  who,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  time  of 
placing  books  under  the  patronage  of  an  influential  person,  suggested 
the  Earl  of  Chesterfield  as  patron  for  the  work;  and  Johnson  ad- 
dressed him  as  such  in  The  Plan  Of  A  Dictionary  Of  The  English 
Language ;  Addreffed  to  the  Right  Honourable  Philip  Dormer,  Earl 
of  Chesterfield:  .  .  .  London,  1747,  a  pamphlet  of  thirty-four  pages. 
This  step  eventually  led  to  the  letter  called  by  Carlyle  "  the  far  famed 
blast  of  doom  proclaiming  into  the  ears  of  Lord  Chesterfield,  and 
through  him  to  the  listening  world,  that  patronage  should  be  no  more." 
For  the  Earl  was  tardy  in  acknowledging  the  inscription  (his  com- 
mendatory letters  did  not  appear  until  the  November  and  December 
issues  of  The  World,  1754),  and  did  little  to  encourage  the  enterprise; 
"  Upon  which,"  said  the  irritated  author,  "  I  wrote  him  a  letter  ex- 
pressed in  civil  terms,  but  such  as  might  show  him  that  I  did  not 
mind  what  he  said  or  wrote,  and  I  had  done  with  him."  It  was 
dated  February  7,  1755,  and  ends  with  the  famous  words:  "Is  not 
a  patron,  my  lord,  one  who  looks  with  unconcern  upon  a  man  strug- 
gling for  life  in  the  water,  and  when  he  has  reached  ground  encum- 
bers him  with  help?  " 

117 


ii8  SAMUEL  JOHNSON 

Johnson  undertook  his  great  work  single-handed,  expecting  to 
finish  it  in  three  years ;  but  the  labor  was  enormous,  and  eight  years 
were  consumed  (the  work  appeared  on  February  20,  1755),  though 
not  all  of  the  time  was  spent  upon  the  Dictionary,  for  he  was  editor 
of  The  Rambler,  also,  at  this  period.  In  this  connection  his  own 
words  written  at  the  end  of  the  Preface  are :  "I  have  protracted  my 
work  till  moft  of  thofe  whom  I  wifhed  to  pleafe  have  funk  into  the 
grave,  and  fuccefs  and  mifcarriage  are  empty  founds:  I  therefore 
difmifs  it  with  frigid  tranquillity,  having  little  to  fear  or  hope  from 
cenfure  or  from  praife." 

The  A.M.  after  the  author's  name  was  procured  for  him  at  Ox- 
ford through  the  good  offices  of  his  friend,  the  poet-laureate,  Thomas 
Warton,  since  it  "  was  thought  desirable  that  these  letters  should  ap- 
pear on  the  title-page  of  the  dictionary  for  the  credit  both  of  himself 
and  the  university." 

The  publishers  whose  names  are  given  in  the  imprint  were  joint 
proprietors  of  the  work,  having  paid  Johnson  15751.  for  the  copy- 
right. "  The  payment  included  the  whole  work  of  preparing  for  the 
press;  and  Johnson  lost  20I.  on  one  occasion  for  a  transcription  of 
some  leaves  which  had  been  written  on  both  sides.  He  employed  six 
amanuenses,  five  of  whom,  as  Boswell  is  glad  to  record,  were  Scots- 
men .  .  .  they  received  23s,  a  week,  which  he  agreed  to  raise  to  2I. 
2S.,  not,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  out  of  the  1,5751."  Boswell  would  lead  us 
to  think  that  even  if  these  extras  did  come  out  of  Johnson's  pocket, 
he  was  not  dissatisfied.  "  I  once  said  to  him,  "  I  am  sorry,  sir,  you 
did  not  get  more  for  your  Dictionary."  His  answer  was  "  I  am  sorry 
too.  But  it  was  very  well.  The  booksellers  are  generous  liberal- 
minded  men."  " 

To  Andrew  Millar  fell  the  responsibihty  of  seeing  the  book  through 
the  press ;  and  his  patience,  we  are  told,  was  sorely  tried  by  Johnson's 
dilatoriness.  When  the  last  sheet  was  brought  to  him,  he  exclaimed  : . 
"Thank  God  I  have  done  with  him!"  This  was  repeated  to  John- 
son, who  said,  with  a  smile :  "  I  am  glad  that  he  thanks  God  for 
anything." 

Folio. 

Collation  :      Two  volumes.      Without  pagination. 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN 

(1706 — 1790) 

51.  Poor  Richard  improved:  |  Being  An  |  Almanack  |  And  | 
Ephemeris  |  [Eight  lines]  For  The  |  Year  of  our  Lord 
1 758  •  I  [Ten  lines]  By  Richard  Saunders,  Philom.  | 
Philadelpeia :  |  Printed  and  Sold  by  B.  Franklin ;  and 
D.  Hall.     [1757.] 

Franklin  says  in  his  Autobiography  : 

"In  1732  I  first  publish'd  my  Almanack,  under  the  name  of  Richard 
Saunders  J  it  was  continu'd  by  me  about  twenty-five  years,  commonly 
call'd  Poor  Richard's  Almanac.  I  endeavor'd  to  make  it  both  enter- 
taining and  useful,  and  it  accordingly  came  to  be  in  such  demand, 
that  I  reap'd  considerable  profit  from  it,  vending  annually  near  ten 
thousand  ..."  The  price  was  five  pence.  So  great  was  its  popu- 
larity that  it  was  found  necessary  to  issue  three  editions  in  the  first 
month.  In  1747  we  are  told  in  a  note,  "This  Almanack  us'd  to  con- 
tain but  24  Pages,  and  now  has  36;  yet  the  Price  is  very  little 
advanc'd,"  and  to  fit  the  new  conditions  the  title  was  changed  to  Poor 
Richard  Improved. 

The  Almanac,  whose  title-page  is  here  facsimiled,  was  the  last  of 
the  series  edited  by  Franklin.  A  collection  of  the  proverbial  sentences 
which  had  "filled  all  the  little  spaces  that  occur'd  between  the  re- 
markable days  in  the  calendar"  in  former  issues,  were  collected  into 
one  speech,  supposed  to  be  deUvered  by  an  old  man,  named  Father 
Abraham,  to  the  people  at  an  auction  sale.  "The  bringing  all  these 
scatter'd  counsells  thus  into  a  focus  enabled  them  to  make  a  greater 
impression."  The  discourse  was  quickly  reprinted,  and  is  famous  now 
under  various  titles.  The  Speech  of  Father  Abraham;  The  Way  to 
Wealth,  and  La  science  du  bonhomme  Richard.  It  has  been  trans- 
lated and  reprinted  oftener  "than  any  other  work  from  an  American 

119 


I20  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN 

pen."  "Seventy  editions  of  it,"  says  Mr.  Paul  L.  Ford,  "have  been 
printed  in  English,  fifty-six  in  French,  eleven  in  German,  and  nine  in 
Itahan.  It  has  been  translated  into  Spanish,  Danish,  Swedish,  Welsh, 
Polish,  Gaehc,  Russian,  Bohemian,  Dutch,  Catalan,  Chinese,  Modern 
Greek  and  Phonetic  writing.  It  has  been  printed  at  least  four 
hundred  times,  and  is  to-day  as  popular  as  ever." 

Franklin  borrowed  for  his  pseudonym  the  name  of  an  English 
"philomath"  of  the  seventeenth  century,  because,  as  he  says,  he  knew 
"that  his  name  would  hardly  give  it  [the  Almanack]  currency  among 
readers  who  still  looked  upon  it  as  dealing  in  magic,  witchcraft  and 
astrology." 

In  1747  or  1748  our  author-printer  entered  into  partnership  with 
David  Hall,  who  took  the  sole  management  of  the  business  until  1766, 
when  the  firm  was  dissolved. 

Octavo. 
Collation  :  36  pp. 


SIR   WILLIAM    BLACKSTONE 

(1723— 1780) 

52.  Commentaries  |  On  The  |  Laws  |  Of  |  England.  | 
Book  The  First.  |  By  |  WiUiam  Blackstone,  Esq.  | 
[Three  lines]  Oxford,  |  Printed  At  The  Clarendon 
Press.  I  M.DCC.LXV.     [— M.DCC.LXIX.] 

The  story  of  the  publication  of  Blackstone's  lectures,  as  Professor  of 
Law  at  Oxford,  reminds  us  of  Bacon's  "  orchard  ill-neighbored."  The 
author  relates  the  circumstances  in  his  preface :  "  For  the  truth  is,  that 
the  prefent  publication  is  as  much  the  effect  of  neceffity,  as  it  is  of  choice. 
The  notes  which  were  taken  by  his  hearers,  haue  by  fome  of  them  (too 
partial  to  his  favour)  been  thought  worth  reuifmg  and  tranfcribing, 
and  thefe  tranfcripts  haue  been  frequently  lent  to  others.  Hence 
copies  haue  been  multiplied,  in  their  natiu-e  imperfect,  if  not  erro- 
neous ;  fome  of  which  haue  fallen  into  mercenary  hands,  and  become 
the  object  of  clandefline  fale.  Having  therefore  fo  much  reafon  to 
apprehend  a  furreptitious  impreffion,  he  chofe  rather  to  fubmit  his 
own  errors  to  the  world,  than  to  feem  anfwerable  for  thofe  of  other 
men." 

The  volumes  were  not  all  issued  at  once,  but  followed  one  another 
at  different  times  during  a  period  of  four  years.  They  were  printed 
at  the  Clarendon  Press,  which  Blackstone,  when  appointed  a  delegate 
in  1755,  had  "found  languishing  in  a  lazy  obscurity,"  and  whose 
quickening  was  in  no  small  measure  due  to  his  "  repeated  conferences 
with  the  most  eminent  masters,  in  London  and  other  places,  with  re- 
gard to  the  mechanical  part  of  printing,"  his  recommendations,  and  to 
his  own  examples  of  good  typography  supplied  in  the  Magna  Charta^ 
published  in  1758,  and  in  this  his  magnum  opus. 

The  wonderful  success  of  the  work  is  attested  by  the  number  of  its 
editions.     A  second  was  issued  in  1768,  and  six  more  appeared  before 


122       SIR   WILLIAM   BLACKSTONE 

the  author's  death.  From  then  until  now,  it  has  been  frequently  re- 
printed. Blackstone  is  reputed  to  have  received  from  the  sale  of  the 
Commentaries^  and  from  his  lectures,  about  ;^  14,000. 

Quarto. 

Collation  :  Four  volumes. 


OLIVER   GOLDSMITH 

(1728— 1774) 

53.  The  I  Vicar  |  Of  |  Wakefield:  |  A  Tale.  |  Suppofed  to 
be  written  by  Himself.  |  Sperate  miferi,  cavete  foelices.  | 
Vol.  I.  Salisbury:  |  Printed  by  B.  Collins,  |  ForF.  New- 
bery,  in  Pater-Nofter-Row,  London.  |  MDCCLXVI. 

Boswell,  Mrs.  Piozzi,  Sir  John  Hawkins  and  others  have  given 
slightly  different  versions  of  the  well-known  story  of  the  sale  of  the 
manuscript  of  the  Vicar j  but  aside  from  throwing  light  on  the  charac- 
ter of  Goldsmith,  none  of  them  have  helped  us  to  a  definite  under- 
standing of  the  transaction.  The  earhest  account  was  written  by  Mrs. 
Piozzi  in  1786,  under  the  title  of  Anecdotes  of  the  late  Samuel  Johnson, 
LL.D.,  during  the  last  Twenty  Years  of  his  Life.  At  pp.  1 19-120  she 
says: 

"  I  have  forgotten  the  year,  but  it  could  scarcely  I  think  be  later 
than  1765  or  1766,  that  he  [Johnson]  was  called  abruptly  from  our 
house  after  dinner,  and  returning  in  about  three  hours,  faid,  he  had 
been  with  an  enraged  author,  whose  landlady  pressed  him  for  payment 
within  doors,  while  the  bailiffs  beset  him  without ;  that  he  was  drink- 
ing himself  drunk  with  Madeira  to  drown  care,  and  fretting  over  a 
novel  which  when  finished  was  to  be  his  whole  fortune ;  but  he  could 
not  get  it  done  for  distraction,  nor  could  he  step  out  of  doors  to  offer 
it  to  sale.  Mr.  Johnson  therefore  set  away  the  bottle,  and  went  to  the 
bookseller,  recommending  the  performance,  and  desiring  some  imme- 
diate relief,  which  when  he  brought  back  to  the  writer,  he  called  the 
woman  of  the  house  directly  to  partake  of  punch,  and  pass  the  time 
in  merriment." 

Boswell  adds,  in  his  account,  that  Johnson  sold  the  novel  for  ;^6o. 
There  seems  to  be  no  evidence  to  prove  this,  nor  yet  to  show  who 
bought  it.     It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  the  publisher,  "F. 

123 


124  OLIVER   GOLDSMITH 

Newbery,"  or  his  uncle,  John  Newbery,  with  whom  he  was  inseparably 
connected,  was  the  purchaser,  until  Mr.  Charles  Welsh  made  the  dis- 
covery which  he  relates  in  his  A  Bookseller  of  the  Last  Century.  He 
says: 

"In  a  book  marked  'Account  of  copies,  their  cost  and  value, 
1764,'  I  find  the  following  entry:  —  "'Vicar  of  Wakefield,'  2  vols. 
i2mo.,  \  rd.  B.  CoUins,  Salisbury,  bought  of  Dr.  Goldsmith,  the 
author,  October  28,  1762,  ^^21."  " 

From  this  entry  of  Collins,  the  Salisbury  printer,  we  may  conclude 
that  the  amount  Johnson  is  said  to  have  received  for  the  distressed 
author  (from  Newbery,  perhaps)  was  an  advance  on  the  unfinished 
story ;  and  that  Collins  bought  his  third  interest  some  time  afterward. 
In  1785,  when  CoUins  sold  out  his  interest,  Mr.  Strahan  owned  one 
third,  and  Caman  and  Newbery  the  other  third. 

There  are  several  circumstances,  besides  the  date  given  by  Collins, 
which  show  that  the  Vicar  was  sold,  in  whole  or  in  part,  at  least  four 
years  before  it  was  published,  and  not  a  few  months  before,  as  Mrs. 
Piozzi  thought.  The  occasion  for  the  delay  has  been  explained  in 
various  ways.  One  explanation  is  that  it  was  held  back  until  the 
Traveller,  which  came  out  in  1765,  should  have  increased  the  author's 
reputation.  It  may  have  been,  as  Johnson  told  Boswell,  that  the  pub- 
lishers were  afraid  that  the  book  would  not  sell.  Certainly  the  results 
would  seem  to  bear  them  out  in  any  doubts  they  may  have  had  of 
its  financial  success.     Mr.  Welsh  says : 

"  All  the  writers  who  have  spoken  of  the  "  Vicar  of  Wakefield  "  have 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  it  brought  a  golden  harvest  to  its  pub- 
lishers .  .  .  The  first  three  editions  .  .  .  resulted  in  a  loss,  and  the 
fourth,  which  was  not  issued  until  eight  years  after  the  first,  started 
with  a  balance  against  it  of  £,1  i6s.  6d.,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
fourth  edition  had  been  sold  that  the  balance  came  out  on  the  right 
side." 

After  being  three  months  in  the  press,  the  book  appeared  March 
27,  1766.  The  advertisement  in  the  Public  Advertiser  Tea.ds :  "This 
Day  is  publiflied.  In  two  Volumes  in  Twelves,  Price  6s.  bound,  or  5s. 
fewed.  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  A  Tale.  Supposed  to  be  written  by 
Himself.  '  Seperate  [fie]  mifere  cavete  foelices.'  Printed  for  F.  New- 
bery, at  the  Crown  in  Pater- N oft er  Row,  of  whom  may  be  had,  Price 
IS.  6d.  The  Traveller,  or,  a  Profpect  of  Society,  a  Poem.  By  Dr. 
Goldsmith."     The  author's  name  was  signed  to  the  preface,  or  "Ad- 


OLIVER    GOLDSMITH  125 

vertisement "  of  the  book,  so  it  was  not  really  anonymous,  as  the 
title-page  and  newspaper  advertisement  would  lead  us  to  think.  If  it 
was  not  a  financial  success  the  tale  seems  to  have  met  with  popular 
favor.  The  second  edition,  bearing  the  imprint  London :  Printed  for 
F.  JVewbery,  in  Pater- No ster- Row,  MDCCLXVL,  was  issued  May  31, 
and  the  third  on  August  29.  Ninety-six  editions  were  issued  before 
1886,  and  there  are  translations  in  every  European  language. 

This  Francis  Newbery,  as  we  have  said,  was  nephew  and  successor 
to  John  Newbery.  The  elder  man  combined  a  successful  business  in 
the  publishing  of  books  with  the  sale  of  quack  medicines, —  not  an 
unusual  thing  in  those  days.  His  list  of  nostrums  contained  over 
thirty  medicines,  among  them  being  Dr.  James's  Fever  Powder,  Dr. 
Steer's  Oil  for  Convulsions,  Dr.  Harper's  Female  Pills,  and  a  certain 
Cordial  Cephalic  Snuff.  His  book-selling  ventures  demand  more  than 
passing  mention,  since  he  really  introduced  "  the  regular  system  of  a 
Juvenile  Library,  and  gave  children  books  in  a  more  permanent  form 
than  the  popular  chap-books  of  the  period," — delightful  books  of  which 
more  than  one  writer  has  spoken  with  affection.  The  general  char- 
acter of  the  stories,  splendidly  bound  in  flowered  and  gilt  Dutch 
papers,  may  be  gathered  from  a  few  of  their  titles :  The  History  of 
Little  Goody  Two  Shoes,  The  Renowned  History  of  Giles  Gingerbread^ 
and  Blossoms  of  Morality. 

Newbery's  publishing  ventures  were  not  confined  to  children's 
books,  by  any  means ;  his  name  gains  additional  luster  by  appearing 
on  the  title-pages  of  several  of  Goldsmith's  works.  Francis  was  mostly 
a  reflection  of  his  enterprising  uncle,  but  his  connection  with  the  Vicar 
of  Wakefield  will  ever  cause  him  to  be  remembered. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.  Volume  1 :  2  ll.,2\\pp.  Volume  II  i 
I  /.,  223//. 


LAURENCE   STERNE 
(1713— 1768) 

54.  A  I  Sentimental  Journey  |  Through  |  France  And  Italy. 
I  By.  Mr.  Yorick.  |  Vol.  I.  |  London:  |  Printed  for  T 
Becket  and  P.  A.  De  Hondt,  |  in  the  Strand.  MDCC- 
LXVIII. 

The  real  journey  immortalized  in  the  story  was  made  in  October, 
1765  ;  in  December,  1767,  two  volumes  were  completed,  and  on  Feb- 
ruary 27,  the  work  was  published  at  five  shillings  for  the  two  volumes. 
On  the  eighteenth  of  March,  Sterne  died. 

Yorick,  in  Tristram  Shandy^  was  represented  as  an  Englishman,  de- 
scended from  the  Yorick  of  Shakespeare,  "  a  fellow  of  infinite  jest,  of 
most  excellent  fancy."  Sterne  also  used  the  pseudonym  in  his  Ser- 
mons by  Mr.  Yorick,  published  in  1760,  so  that  the  authorship  of  this 
book  was  probably  never  in  doubt.  "  The  lively,  witty,  sensitive  and 
heedless  parson,"  was,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  "  the  well-known  per- 
sonification of  Sterne  himself." 

Fitzgerald  tells  us  in  his  biography  of  Sterne,  that  it  was  the  au- 
thor's first  thought  to  have  the  volume  a  stately  quarto  with  handsome 
margins,  costing  a  half-guinea,  but  that  he  finally  decided  to  use  the 
Shandy  size,  which  had  become  a  favorite  with  the  public.  The  book, 
which  is  without  ornament,  except  for  an  engraving  on  copper  of  a 
coat  of  arms  (Sterne's  book-plate),  in  the  second  volume,  is  a  good 
specimen  of  the  best  typography  of  the  period.  Large  paper  copies 
also  were  issued.  The  first  volume  begins  with  a  long  list  of  "  Sub- 
scribers," the  names  starred  being  down  for  "  Imperial  Paper." 

Thomas  Becket  Hved  to  be  ninety-three  years  old,  long  enough,  as 
Charles  Knight  remarks,  to  see  many  revolutions  in  literary  taste ; 
long  enough,  in  fact,  to  see  Sterne,  his  most  successful  author,  go  out 
of  fashion.     He  was  an  assistant  to  Andrew  Millar,  before  he  became 

126 


LAURENCE   STERNE  127 

De  Hondt's  partner.  It  was  he  who  published  the  famous  anonymous 
book,  The  Pursuits  of  Literature  by  Mathias,  which  had  the  distinction 
of  running  into  fourteen  editions. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :  Two  volumes.    Volume  I,  xx,  203^.    Volume  II,  2  //., 
208^. 


THE    FEDERALIST 

55.  The  I  Federalist:  |  A  Collection  |  Of  |  Essays,  |  Writ- 
ten In  Favour  Of  The  |  New  Constitution,  |  As  Agreed 
Upon  By  The  Federal  Convention,  |  September  17, 
1787.  I  In  Two  Volumes  |  Vol.  I.  |  New- York:  | 
Printed  And  Sold  By  J.  And  H.  M'Lean,  |  No.  41, 
Hanover-Square.  |  M,DCC,LXXXVIII. 

"The  papers  under  the  title  of  "  Federalist,"  and  signature  of 
"  Publius,"  were  written  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  James  Madison, 
and  John  Jay,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1787  and  the  former  part 
of  the  year  1788.  The  immediate  object  of  them  was,  to  vindicate 
and  recommend  the  new  Constitution  to  the  State  of  New  York, 
whose  ratification  of  the  instrument  was  doubtful,  as  well  as  impor- 
tant. The  undertaking  was  proposed  by  A.  Hamilton  (who  had 
probably  consulted  Mr.  Jay  and  others)  to  J.  M.,  who  agreed  to  take 
a  part  in  it.  The  papers  were  originally  addressed  to  the  people  of 
N.  York,  under  the  signature  of  a  "  Citizen  of  New  York."  This 
was  changed  for  that  of  "  Publius,"  the  first  name  of  Valerius  Publi- 
cola.  A  reason  for  the  change  was,  that  one  of  the  writers  was  not 
a  Citizen  of  that  State;  another,  that  the  publication  had  diffused 
itself  among  most  of  the  other  States.  The  papers  were  first  pub- 
lished at  New  York  in  a  newspaper  printed  by  Francis  Childs,  at  the 
rate,  during  great  part  of  the  time,  at  least,  of  four  numbers  a  week ; 
and  notwithstanding  this  exertion,  they  were  not  compleated  till  a 
large  proportion  of  the  States  had  decided  on  the  Constitution. 
They  were  edited  as  soon  as  possible  in  two  small  volumes,  the  pref- 
ace to  the  first  volume,  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  bearing  date 
N.  York,  March,  1788.  .  .  ."  This  from  Madison  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Paulding  at  Washington,  dated  July  24,  181 8. 

128 


THE   FEDERALIST  129 

The  first  seven  papers  appeared  under  the  title  The  Federalist. 
No.  I.  To  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  The  Independent 
Journal,  and  many  of  the  succeeding  numbers  first  came  out  in  that 
paper :  some  were  issued  in  The  New  York  Packet,  two  appeared  in 
The  Daily  Advertiser,  six  appeared  simultaneously  in  two  or  more 
papers,  and  nine  were  not  published  until  the  whole  was  collected  in 
book  form. 

Mr.  Paul  Leicester  Ford,  in  his  Bibliotheca  Hamiltoniana,  gives  Jay 
credit  for  five  numbers ;  "  Madison  numbers  10,  14,  37  to  48  inclusive ; 
numbers  18,  19  and  20  are  the  joint  work  of  Madison  and  Hamilton; 
numbers  49  to  58,  62  and  63  are  claimed  by  both  Madison  and 
Hamilton ;  the  rest  of  the  numbers  are  by  Hamilton." 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.    Volume  I,  vi,  227  pp.    Volume  II,  vi. 


TOBIAS   GEORGE   SMOLLETT 
(1721  — 1771) 

56.  The  I  Expedition  |  Of  |  Humphry  CHnker.  |  By  the 
Author  of  I  Roderick  Random.  |  In  Three  Volumes.  | 
Vol.  I.  I  [Quotation]  London,  |  Printed  for  W.  John- 
ston, in  Ludgate-Street:  |  and  B.  Collins,  in  Salifbury.  | 
MDCLXXI. 

Roderick  Random,  Smollett's  first  book,  had  appeared  in  1 748,  The 
greater  part  of  Humphry  Clinker  was  written  in  the  autumn  of  1770, 
when  its  author  was  dying.  He  "  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his 
masterpiece,  but  not  of  hearing  the  chorus  of  praise  that  greeted  it." 

Some  copies  of  the  first  volume  have,  as  in  this  instance,  an  error  in 
the  date,  167 1  being  printed  for  1771. 

Collins,  as  we  have  seen,  was  associated  with  Francis  Newbery  in 
the  publication  of  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  and  he  was  also  associated 
with  nephew  and  uncle  in  the  sale  of  Dr.  James's  Fever  Powder,  and 
the  manufacture  of  the  celebrated  Cordial  Cephalic  Snuff.  We  are 
fortunate  in  having  his  orderly  and  well-kept  account  books,  in  one  of 
which  is  the  following  entry,  worthy  of  a  place  here,  and  at  length : 

From  B,  Collins'  Publishing  Book. 
Account  Of  Books  Printed,  And  Shares  Therein. 
No.  3.     1770  To  1785. 
Humphrey  Clinker:  A  Novel,  3  vols.  i2mo. 
Of  which  I  have  one  moiety,  in  partnership  with  Mr.  William  John- 
ston, London. 

130 


TOBIAS  GEORGE  SMOLLETT 


Dr. 

To  Dr  S.  MoUet 

copy  money 
To  Printing  and 

Paper      2,000 

No. 
9  Sets  to  the  Hall 

and  10  to  the 

Author 
Advertisements 

To   Balance   for 
Profit 


^210    o      o 

155  15      6 

6     I    10 
15  10      o 

£?>^i    7    4 

92  12      8 

^480    o      o 
My  Moiety  of  Profits,  ;^46,  6s. 
4d.,   for   which   I    received    Mr. 
Johnston's  Note,  Nov.  19,   1772. 
—B.C. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :    Three  volumes. 


131 
Cr. 


By  2000  Books 
sold  at  jr^2\ 
per  100 


^480    o      o 


ADAM   SMITH 

(1723— 1790) 

57.  An  I  Inquiry  |  Into  The  |  Nature  and  Caufes  |  Of  The 
I  Wealth  Of  Nations.  |  By  Adam  Smith,  LL.D.  and  F. 
R.  S.  I  Formerly  Profeffor  of  Moral  Philofophy  in  the 
Univerfity  of  Glasgow.  |  In  Two  Volumes  |  Vol.  I.  | 
London  :  |  Printed  for  W.  Strahan ;  And  T.  Cadell,  In 
The  Strand.  |  MDCCLXXVI. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  English  book  were  ever  longer  in  being  put 
to  press  than  this  one.  Mr.  John  Rae,  in  his  life  of  Smith,  says  he 
took  twelve  years  to  write  it,  and  that  it  was  in  contemplation  twelve 
years  before  that.  It  was  explicitly  and  publicly  promised  in  the  con- 
cluding paragraph  of  The  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  which  appeared 
in  1759. 

Nothing  definite  is  known  of  the  terms  on  which  the  author  parted 
with  the  work  to  his  publishers,  but  it  is  thought  to  have  been  sold 
outright.  It  is  estimated  that  Strahan  paid  five  hundred  pounds  for 
the  first  edition,  and  that  he  published  later  editions  at  half  profit. 
The  selling  price  of  the  first  edition  was  j[^\  16s.  The  edition  was 
exhausted  in  six  months,  but  the  number  of  copies  is  unknown. 

Beginning  as  a  printer,  in  which  capacity  we  have  already  seen  him 
in  connection  with  Dr.  Johnson's  Dictionary,  Strahan  rose  rapidly  to 
eminence  as  a  publisher,  figuring  prominently  in  the  ventures  of  Hume, 
Gibbon,  Robertson,  Blackstone,  and  Blair.  He  introduced  into  his 
dealings  with  his  clients  amenities  unknown  before.  His  pecuniary 
successes,  as  in  this  case,  enabled  him  to  set  up  the  coach  which  Dr. 
Johnson  said  was  a  credit  to  literature. 

Quarto. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.  Volume  I:  6  //.,  510  pp.  Volume 
II:  2ll.,c^^ipp. 

13a 


EDWARD  GIBBON 

(1737— 1794) 

58.  The  I  History  |  Of  The  |  Decline  And  Fall  |  Of 
The  I  Roman  Empire.  |  By  Edward  Gibbon,  Efq;  | 
Volume  The  First.  |  [Quotation]  London :  |  Printed 
For  W.  Strahan;  And  T.  Cadell,  In  The  Strand.  | 
MDCCLXXVI.  [— MDCCLXXXVIII] 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  an  account  of  the  publication  of  this  work 
written  by  Gibbon  himself.     In  June,  1775,  he  says : 

"  The  volume  of  my  history,  which  had  been  somewhat  delayed  by  the 
novelty  and  tumult  of  a  first  session,  was  now  ready  for  the  press.  After 
the  perilous  adventure  had  been  declined  by  my  timid  friend  Mr.  Elms- 
ley,  I  agreed,  on  very  easy  terms,  with  Mr.  Thomas  Cadell,  a  respectable 
bookseller,  and  Mr.  William  Strahan,  an  eminent  printer;  and  they 
undertook  the  care  and  risk  of  the  publication,  which  derived  more 
credit  from  the  name  of  the  shop  than  from  that  of  the  author.  The 
last  revisal  of  the  proofs  was  submitted  to  my  vigilance ;  and  many 
blemishes  of  style,  which  had  been  invisible  in  the  manuscript,  were 
discovered  and  corrected  in  the  printed  sheet.  So  moderate  were  our 
hopes,  that  the  original  impression  had  been  stinted  to  five  hundred, 
till  the  number  was  doubled  by  the  prophetic  taste  of  Mr.  Strahan. 
During  this  awful  interval  I  was  neither  elated  by  the  ambition  of 
fame,  nor  depressed  by  the  apprehension  of  contempt.  My  diligence 
and  accuracy  were  attested  by  my  own  conscience  ..." 

It  was  on  the  17th  of  February  that  the  first  volume  of  the  great 
work  finally  "decHned  into  the  World,"  as  the  author  expressed  it. 
Its  success  was  immediate.  "  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  describe  the  success 
of  the  work  without  betraying  the  vanity  of  the  writer.  The  first 
impression  was  exhausted  in  a  few  days ;  a  second  and  third  edition 
were  scarcely  adequate  to  the  demand,  and  the  bookseller's  property 

133 


134  EDWARD    GIBBON 

was  twice  invaded  by  the  pyrates  of  Dublin.     My  book  was  on  every 
table,  and  almost  on  every  toilette  ..." 

The  second  edition  was  called  for  in  1776.  On  May  20th  Gibbon 
writes  to  J.  B.  Holroyd  : 

"  In  about  a  fortnight  I  again  launch  into  the  World  in  the  shape 
of  a  quarto  Volume.  The  dear  Cadell  assures  me  that  he  never 
remembered  so  eager  and  impatient  a  demand  for  a  second  Edition." 
And  again  in  June  he  writes  to  the  same :  "The  1500  Copies  are  mov- 
ing off  with  decent  speed,  and  the  obUging  Cadell  begins  to  mutter 
something  of  a  third  Edition  for  next  year."  This  third  edition  did  not, 
however,  appear  until  1782. 

In  June,  1780,  we  find  our  author  busy  revising  and  correcting  for 
the  press  the  second  and  third  volumes  of  the  first  edition,  both  of 
which  appeared  the  next  year.  Under  date  of  April  13,  1781,  he 
writes  to  his  stepmother : 

"The  reception  of  these  two  volumes  has  been  very  unlike  that 
of  the  first,  and  yet  my  vanity  is  so  very  dextrous,  that  I  am  not  dis- 
pleased with  the  difference.  The  effects  of  novelty  could  no  longer 
operate,  and  the  public  was  not  surprised  by  the  unexpected  appear- 
ance of  a  new  and  unknown  author.  The  progress  of  these  two 
volumes  has  hitherto  been  quiet  and  silent.  Almost  everybody  that 
reads  has  purchased,  but  few  persons  (comparatively)  have  read  them ; 
and  I  find  that  the  greatest  number,  satisfied  that  they  have  acquired 
a  valuable  fund  of  entertainment,  differ  the  perusal  to  the  summer,  the 
country,  and  a  more  quiet  period.  Yet  I  have  reason  to  think,  from 
the  opinion  of  some  judges,  that  my  reputation  has  not  suffered  by 
this  publication.  The  Clergy  (such  is  the  advantage  of  a  total  loss  of 
character)  commend  my  decency  and  moderation :  but  the  patriots 
wish  to  down  the  work  and  the  author." 

The  concluding  volumes  were  delayed  for  various  reasons  as  Gib- 
bon said  to  Lord  Sheffield  in  July,  1786 :  "A  book  takes  more  time 
in  making  than  a  pudding."  In  June,  1787,  he  says :  "  I  am  building 
a  great  book,  which,  besides  the  three  stories  already  exposed  to  the 
public  eye,  will  have  three  stories  more  before  we  reach  the  roof  and 
battlement,"  and  promises  that,  with  the  diligence  and  speed  then 
exerted,  he  hopes  to  be  able  to  have  the  work  ready  for  the  press  in 
August,  or  perhaps  July.     In  an  earlier  letter  he  says : 

"  About  a  month  ago  I  had  a  voluntary,  and  not  unpleasing  Epistle 
from  Cadell ;  he  informs  me  that  he  is  going  to  print  a  new  octavo 
edition,  the  former  being  exhausted,  and  that  the  public  expect  with 


EDWARD    GIBBON  135 

impatience  the  conclusion  of  the  excellent  work,  whose  reputation  and 
sale  increases  every  day,  etc.  I  answered  him  by  the  return  of  the 
post,  to  inform  him  of  the  period  and  extent  of  my  labours,  and  to 
express  a  reasonable  hope  that  he  would  set  the  same  value  on  the 
three  last  as  he  had  done  on  the  three  former  Volumes.  Should 
we  conclude  in  this  easy  manner  a  transaction  as  honourable  to  the 
author  and  bookseller,  my  way  is  clear  and  open  before ;  in  pecuni- 
ary matters  I  think  I  am  assured  for  the  rest  of  my  life  of  never 
troubling  my  friends,  or  being  troubled  myself ;  a  state  to  which  I  as- 
pire, and  which  I  indeed  deserve,  if  not  by  my  management,  at  least 
by  moderation." 

The  publishers  had  allowed  Gibbon  two  thirds  of  the  profits  for  the 
first  volume,  which  amounted  on  the  first  edition  to  ^^490.  In  a  letter 
written  in  1788,  to  his  stepmother,  he  refers  again  to  his  relations  with 
Cadell :  "  The  public,  where  it  costs  them  nothing,  are  extravagantly 
liberal ;  yet  I  will  allow  with  Dr.  Johnson  'that  booksellers  in  this  age  are 
not  the  worst  patrons  of  literature.' "  Allibone  tells  us  that  the  histo- 
rians' "profit  on  the  whole  is  stated  to  have  been  ^^6,000,  whilst  the 
booksellers  netted  the  handsome  sum  of  ;^6o,ooo." 

The  sixth  volume  was  finished  June  27, 1787,  and  was  published  with 
the  fourth  and  fifth  in  April,  1788.     Gibbon  says : 

"  The  impression  of  the  fourth  volume  had  consumed  three  months ; 
our  common  interest  required  that  we  should  move  with  quicker 
pace,  and  Mr.  Strahan  fulfilled  his  engagement,  which  few  printers 
could  sustain,  of  delivering  every  week  three  thousand  copies  of 
nine  sheets.  The  day  of  publication  was,  however,  delayed,  that 
it  might  coincide  with  the  fifty-first  anniversary  of  my  own  birthday : 
the  double  festival  was  celebrated  by  a  cheerful  literary  dinner  at  Mr. 
Cadell's  house,  and  I  seemed  to  blush  while  they  read  an  elegant 
compliment  from  Mr.  Haley." 

John  Hall,  historical  engraver  to  George  III,  and  one  of  the  en- 
gravers of  the  plates  for  Alderman  Boydell's  collection,  executed  the 
portrait  of  Gibbon,  after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  which  faces  the  title- 
page  of  our  first  volume.  The  plate  was  issued  separately  in  1780, 
Cadell  having  "strenuously  urged  the  curiosity  of  the  public"  as  a 
reason  for  its  immediate  publication.  It  was  most  appropriate  to  in- 
troduce, as  he  did,  the  vignettes  emblematic  of  Rome. 

Quarto. 

Collation  :   Six  volumes. 


RICHARD    BRINSLEY   SHERIDAN 

(1751— 1816) 

59.  The  I  School  |  For  |  Scandal.  |  A  |  Comedy.  |  [Quota- 
tion] Dublin :  |  Printed  for  J.  Ewling. 

The  first  performance  of  the  play  occurred  May  8,  1777,  at  the 
Drury  Lane  Theatre,  which  had  been  opened  under  Sheridan's  man- 
agement the  previous  year.  A  publisher  immediately  offered  five 
hundred  guineas  for  a  corrected  copy  of  the  comedy,  and  Sheridan 
promised  to  prepare  it  for  the  press ;  but  Mr.  W.  Fraser  Rae  tells  us 
that  when  importuned  for  the  revised  manuscript  Sheridan  "always 
replied  that  he  had  never  been  able  to  satisfy  himself  as  to  the  version 
which  he  wished  to  be  published,  and  the  comedy,  with  any  of  his 
final  corrections,  has  not  yet  been  given  to  the  world." 

The  Ewling  edition  was  printed  from  an  acting  copy  which  Sheri- 
dan had  given  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  LeFanu  of  Dublin,  who,  for  one  hun- 
dred guineas  and  free  admission  to  the  theater  for  herself  and  family, 
had  let  it  go  to  Mr.  Roger  of  the  Theatre  Royal.  A  dated  edition  ap- 
peared in  Dublin  in  1781, 

The  omission  of  the  author's  name  from  the  title-page  recalls  the 
foolish  statement  made  by  Dr.  Watkins  on  the  authority  of  Isaac 
Reed,  "  that  the  play  was  written  by  a  young  lady,  the  daughter  of  a 
merchant  in  Thames  Street  [whose  name  and  the  number  of  whose 
house  are  judiciously  withheld],  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  season 
when  Mr.  Sheridan  commenced  his  management,  the  manuscript  was 
put  into  his  hands  for  judgment,  soon  after  which  the  fair  writer, 
who  was  then  in  a  stage  of  decline,  went  to  Bristol  Hot  Wells,  where 
she  died." 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  vi,  ^2>PP->  ^  ^' 

136 


WILLIAM    COWPER 

(1731— 1800) 

60.  The  I  Task,  |  A  |  Poem,  |  In  Six  Books.  |  By  William 
Cowper,  I  Of  The  Inner  Temple,  Esq.  |  Fit  furculus 
arbor.  |  Anonym.  |  To  which  are  added,  |  By  The  Same 
Author,  I  An  Epistle  to  Joseph  Hill,  Efq.  Tirocinium, 
or  a  I  Review  of  Schools,  and  the  History  of  John  Gil- 
pin. I  London:  |  Printed  For  J.  Johnson,  N^  72,  St. 
Paul's  I  Church-Yard:  |  1785. 

In  October,  1784,  William  Cawthome  Unwin, 

"A  friend  whose  worth  deserves  as  warm  a  lay 
As  ever  friendship  penned," 

received  from  Cowper  "  four  quires  of  verse"  with  the  request  that  it 
might  be  read  by  him  and,  if  approved,  conveyed  to  Joseph  Johnson, 
the  publisher  of  Cowper's  first  volume. 

"If,  when  you  make  the  offer  of  my  book  [The  Task],  to  Johnson, 
he  should  stroke  his  chin,  and  look  up  at  the  ceiling  and  cry  '  Humph!  ', 
anticipate  him,  I  beseech  you,  at  once  by  saying  '  that  you  know  I 
should  be  sorry  that  he  should  undertake  for  me  to  his  own  disad- 
vantage, or  that  my  volume  should  be  in  any  degree  pressed  upon 
him.  I  make  him  the  offer  merely  because  I  think  he  would  have 
reason  to  complain  of  me  if  I  did  not.'  But,  that  punctilio  once 
satisfied,  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  me  what  publisher  sends  me 
forth."     Johnson,  however,  accepted. 

"  My  imagination  tells  me,"  says  Cowper  to  Unwin,  "  (for  I  know 
you  interest  yourself  in  the  success  of  my  productions)  that  your  heart 
fluttered  when  you  approached  his  door,  and  that  it  felt  itself  dis- 
charged of  a  burthen  when  you  came  out  again." 

137 


138  WILLIAM    COWPER 

The  "  Advertisement,"  or  preface,  accounting  for  The  Task^  is  worth 
reprinting.     It  runs : 

"  The  hiftory  of  the  following  production  is  briefly  this.  A  lady, 
fond  of  blank  verfe,  demanded  a  poem  of  that  kind  from  the  author, 
and  gave  him  the  Sofa  for  a  fubject.  He  obeyed ;  and  having  much 
leifure,  connected  another  fubject  with  it ;  and  purfuing  the  train  of 
thought  to  which  his  fituation  and  turn  of  mind  led  him,  brought  forth 
at  length,  inllead  of  the  trifle  which  he  at  firfl  intended,  a  ferious 
affair  —  a  Volume." 

The  lady,  who  was  Cowper's  friend,  Lady  Austin,  was  also  respon- 
sible for  John  Gilpin,  for  it  was  from  her  that  the  poet  first  heard  the 
tale.  It  is  said  that  he  wrote  the  outline  that  night  and  sent  it  to 
The  Public  Advertiser,  anonymously,  the  next  morning ;  but,  in  fact,  it 
appeared  in  November,  1782.  It  had  a  great  success  in  the  news- 
papers, and  in  pamphlet  form,  and  Henderson,  the  actor,  gave  it  fur- 
ther vogue  by  his  recitations, 

"  I  have  not  been  without  thoughts  of  adding  *  John  Gilpin  '  at  the 
tail  of  all,"  wrote  Cowper,  while  The  Task  was  in  press.  "  He  has 
made  a  good  deal  of  noise  in  the  world ;  and  perhaps  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  show,  that  though  I  write  generally  with  a  serious  intention, 
I  know  how  to  be  occasionally  merry." 

There  was  some  discussion  between  the  poet  and  the  publisher,  as  to 
the  propriety  of  putting  poems  so  different  in  character  into  the 
same  volume.  The  poet  says  to  Mr.  Newton :  "  I  should  blame  no- 
body, not  even  my  intimate  friends,  and  those  who  have  the  most 
favorable  opinion  of  me,  were  they  to  charge  the  publication  of  John 
Gilpin,  at  the  end  of  so  much  solemn  and  serious  truth,  to  the  score 
of  the  author's  vanity ;  and  to  suspect  that,  however  sober  I  may  be 
upon  proper  occasions,  I  have  yet  that  itch  of  popularity  that  would 
not  suffer  me  to  sink  my  title  to  a  jest  that  had  been  so  successful. 
But  the  case  is  not  such.  When  I  sent  the  copy  of  the  Task  to  John- 
son, I  desired,  indeed,  Mr.  Unwin  to  ask  him  the  question,  whether  or 
not  he  would  choose  to  make  it  a  part  of  the  volume.  This  I  did 
merely  with  a  view  to  promote  the  sale  of  it.  Johnson  answered,  '  By 
all  means.'  Some  months  afterward,  he  enclosed  a  note  to  me  in  one 
of  my  packets,  in  which  he  expressed  a  change  of  mind,  alleging,  that 
to  print  John  Gilpin  would  only  be  to  print  what  had  been  hackneyed 
in  every  magazine,  in  every  shop,  and  at  the  corner  of  every  street.  I 
answered,  that  I  desired  to  be  entirely  governed  by  his  opinion ;  and 


WILLIAM    COWPER  139 

that  if  he  chose  to  waive  it,  I  should  be  better  pleased  with  the  omis- 
sion. Nothing  more  passed  between  us  on  the  subject,  and  I  con- 
cluded that  I  should  never  have  the  immortal  honor  of  being  generally 
known  as  the  author  of  John  Gilpin.  In  the  last  packet,  however, 
down  came  John,  very  fairly  printed,  and  equipped  for  public  appear- 
ance. The  business  having  taken  this  turn,  I  concluded  that  Johnson 
had  adopted  my  original  thought,  that  it  might  prove  advantageous  to 
the  sale ;  and  as  he  had  had  the  trouble  and  expense  of  printing  it,  I 
corrected  the  copy,  and  let  it  pass." 

The  half-title  to  John  Gilpin  in  our  copy  reads :  The  Diverting  |  His- 
tory I  Of  I  John  Gilpin,  |  Shewing  How  He  Went  Farther  Than  He  \ 
Intended  And  Came  Safe  Home  Again. 

The  book  appeared  in  June,  having  now  grown  into  a  volume  of 
poems,  containing,  as  the  title-page  shows,  foiu"  works,  paged  continu- 
ously. It  cost  four  shillings,  in  boards.  The  volume  was  a  great  suc- 
cess, and  two  issues  were  made  in  the  same  year.  These  show  several 
variations,  but  chiefly  in  the  arrangement  of  the  pages.  A  half-title, 
found  in  some  copies,  and  thought  to  belong  only  to  late  issues,  reads : 
Poems,  By  William  Cowper,  Esq.  Vol.  II.  Herein  we  may  possibly  see 
Johnson's  afterthought  to  make  the  book  a  second  volume  to  the  col- 
lection of  Poems  issued  in  1782,  and  referred  to  in  the  advertisement  on 
the  last  page  :  "  Lately  publifhed  by  the  fame  Author,  in  one  Volume  of 
this  Size.  Price  4s.  fewed."  It  would  have  been  a  shrewd  plan  thus  to 
make  the  successful  later  volume  carry  the  unsuccessful  earlier. 

Cowper  gave  the  copyright  to  Johnson,  who  afterward,  when  the 
work  proved  so  successful,  would  have  allowed  him  to  take  back  his  gift, 
but  Cowper  refused. 

This  Johnson  was  also  the  pubhsher  of  Home  Tooke,  Fuseh,  Bonny- 
castle,  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  and  Miss  Edgeworth.  He,  as  well  as 
his  successor,  Rowland  Hunter,  was  a  dissenter,  and  the  building 
which  he  occupied,  we  are  told,  was  "plain  and  unadorned,  befitting 
the  head-quarters  of  the  bookselling  of  Protestant  Dissent."  Charles 
Knight,  in  Shadows  of  the  Old  Booksellers,  has  a  paragraph,  which  must 
be  quoted  in  connection  with  the  appearance  of  Johnson's  books. 

"  With  wire-wove  hot-pres'd  paper's  glossy  glare. 
Blind  all  the  wise,  and  make  the  stupid  stare." 

"The  pubhsher  of  Cowper  was  an  exception  to  his  brother  publishers 
of  that  day,  who  are  addressed  in  these  lines.     Aikin  says  of  him, 


I40  WILLIAM    COWPER 

"  It  is  proper  to  mention  that  his  true  regard  for  the  interests  of  litera- 
ture rendered  him  an  enemy  to  that  typographical  luxury  which,  joined 
to  the  necessary  increase  of  expense  in  printing,  has  so  much  enhanced 
the  price  of  new  books  as  to  be  a  material  obstacle  to  the  indulgence 
of  a  laudable  and  reasonable  curiosity  to  the  reading  public." 

It  is  quite  certain  that  in  making  the  Task  he  did  not  sin  against 
these  principles  of  philanthropy,  even  if  he  sinned  against  many  of  the 
rules  of  good  book-making. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  4 //.,  359^^. 


ROBERT  BURNS 

(1759—1796) 

61.  Poems,  I  Chiefly  In  The  |  Scottish  Dialect,  |  By  |  Rob- 
ert Burns.  I  [Quotation]  Kilmarnock :  |  Printed  By  John 
Wilson.  I  M,DCC,LXXXVI. 

One  of  Buras's  warmest  friends,  Gavin  Hamilton,  advised  him  to  pub- 
lish his  poems  in  order  to  get  enough  money  to  emigrate  to  Jamaica, 
where  it  was  hoped  he  would  escape  from  the  complications  incident 
upon  his  love  affair  with  Jean  Armour,  In  the  preface  Burns  tells  us 
that  none  of  the  poems  was  written  with  a  view  to  publication,  but  as 
a  counterpoise  to  the  troubles  of  the  world. 

The  Proposals  For  Publishing  By  Subscription,  Scottish  Poems,  By 
Robert  Burns,  only  one  copy  of  which  is  known,  appeared  in  1786,  and 
ran  as  follows :  "  The  Work  to  be  elegantly  printed,  in  one  volume 
octavo.  Price,  stitched.  Three  Shillings.  As  the  Author  has  not  the 
most  distant  mercenary  view  in  pubHshing,assoon  as  so  many  subscribers 
appear  as  will  defray  the  necessary  expense,  the  work  will  be  sent  to 
Press."  A  stanza  of  a  poem  by  Alan  Ramsay  was  followed  by  the 
agreement :  "  We  undersubscribers  engage  to  take  the  above-men- 
tioned work  on  the  conditions  specified."  The  book  went  to  press  in 
June,  and  appeared  the  last  day  of  July.  Six  hundred  and  twelve 
copies  were  printed ;  three  hundred  and  fifty  were  taken  by  the  author's 
friends ;  and,  by  August  28,  all  but  thirteen  had  been  sold.  Bums 
cleared  about  twenty  pounds. 

In  October  a  new  edition  of  a  thousand  copies  was  suggested  by 
Burns,  but  the  printer  refused  to  proceed  unless  the  author  would 
advance  twenty-seven  pounds,  the  price  of  the  paper,  "  But  this,  you 
know,"  says  the  luckless  poet  to  Robert  Aiken,  "  is  out  of  my  power ; 
so  farewell  hopes  of  a  second  edition  till  I  grow  richer  !    an  epocha, 

141 


142  ROBERT   BURNS 

which,  I  think,  will  arrive  at  the  payment  of  the  British  National 
Debt." 

Unlike  Messrs.  Dunlop  and  Wilson  of  Glasgow,  to  whom  Burns  is 
said,  without  much  authority,  to  have  first  offered  the  poem,  Wilson, 
the  printer  of  the  little  volume,  was  not  a  great  or  leading  publisher ; 
but  he  succeeded  in  making  a  volume  that  is  very  charming  in  ap- 
pearance, and  not  without  reminders  of  the  French  press- work  of  the 
period. 

A  copy  of  this  book  sold  at  the  auction  of  the  library  of  Mr.  A.  C. 
Lamb  of  Dundee,  in  February,  1898,  for  the  sum  of  five  hundred  and 
seventy-two  pounds,  five  shiUings  — "  the  most  amazing  price  ever 
realized  for  a  modern  book." 

Octavo. 
Collation  :   240  //. 


GILBERT  WHITE 
(1720— 1793) 

62.  The  I  Natural  History  |  And  |  Antiquities  |  Of  |  Sel- 
borne,  |  [Two  lines]  With  |  Engravings,  And  An 
Appendix.  |  [Quotations]  London :  |  Printed  by  T. 
Bensley;  |  For  B.  White  And  Son,  at  Horace's  Head, 
Fleet  Street.  |  M,DCC,LXXXIX. 

"B.  White"  was  Benjamin,  next  older  brother  of  Gilbert,  and  one 
of  the  chief  publishers  of  books  relating  to  natural  history.  His 
interest  in  this  book,  therefore,  must  have  been  more  than  usually 
great,  an  assumption  justified  by  its  typographical  appearance.  It 
may,  perhaps,  be  truly  said  that,  with  the  possible  exceptions  of  Claren- 
don's History  and  Percy's  Reliques,  it  is  the  only  work  in  our  series 
having  special  artistic  merit. 

Thomas  Bensley  was  one  of  the  first  English  printers  to  turn  his 
attention  to  printing  as  a  fine  art ;  and  he  may  be  reckoned,  with 
Bulmer,  chief  among  the  reformers  of  the  art.  As  Dibdin  says,  in 
the  Bibliographical  Decameron,  he  "completed  the  establishment  of  a 
self  working  press,  which  prints  on  both  sides  of  the  sheet  by  one  and 
the  same  operation — and  throws  oif  900  copies  in  an  hour!  This 
really  seems  magical.  It  is  certainly  without  precedent."  It  was,  no 
doubt,  with  intent  that  Benjamin  White  gave  the  printing  of  this  book 
into  such  hands,  and  something  of  the  sumptuousness  which  afterward 
in  Macklin's  Bible  and  Hume's  History  of  England  made  Bensley 
famous  may  be  seen  in  this  work. 

Our  chief  interest  in  the  volume,  as  a  piece  of  bookmaking,  centers 
in  the  illustrations,  engraved  by  Peter  Mazell  and  Daniel  Lerpiniere. 
These  comprise  a  vignette  on  the  title-page  to  The  Natural  History, 
with  a  line  from  White's  own  poem,  "The  Invitation  to  Selbourne"; 
seven  plates,  one,  the  large  folding  frontispiece,  which  is  said  to  con- 

143 


144  GILBERT   WHITE 

tain  portraits  of  four  of  White's  friends ;  and  a  vignette  on  the  title- 
page  of  The  Antiquities.  They  are  all  from  drawings  by  a  young 
Swiss  artist  named  Samuel  Hieronymus  Grimm,  who  settled  in  London 
in  1778,  and  was  much  employed  in  topographical  work. 

White's  references  to  him  in  various  letters  give  us  quite  an  insight 
into  the  details  of  making  this  delightful  book.  Writing  to  Rev.  John 
White,  August  12,  1775,  he  says: 

"  Mr.  Grimm,  the  Swiss,  is  still  in  Derbyshire ;  and  is  to  continue 
there  and  in  Staffordshire  'til  the  end  of  the  month,  I  have  made  all 
the  inquiry  I  can  concerning  this  artist,  as  it  much  behoves  me  to  do. 
Mr.  Tho.  Mulso,  and  Brother  Thomas,  and  Benjamin,  and  Mr.  Lort 
have  been  to  his  lodgings  to  see  his  performances.  They  all  agree 
that  he  is  a  man  of  genius ;  but  the  two  former  say  that  he  does  hardly 
seem  to  stick  enough  to  nature ;  and  that  his  trees  are  grotesque  and 
strange.  Brother  Benjamin  seems  to  approve  of  him.  They  all  allow 
that  he  excels  in  grounds,  water,  and  buildings.  Friend  Curtis  recom- 
mends a  Mr.  MuUins,  a  worker  in  oil-colours.  Grimm,  it  seems,  has 
a  way  of  staining  his  scapes  with  light  water-colours,  and  seems  dis- 
posed much  in  scapes  for  light  sketchings ;  now  I  want  strong  lights 
and  shades  and  good  trees  and  foliage." 

The  inquiries  seem,  in  the  end,  to  have  been  satisfactory,  and  by 
May  the  fifth  of  the  next  year  the  young  man  had  been  engaged.  An 
entry  in  The  Naturalists'  Journal,  under  date  of  July  8,  1776,  records : 
"  Mr.  Grimm,  my  artist,  came  from  London  to  take  some  of  our  finest 
views." 

On  August  9,  1776,  he  says: 

"Mr.  Grimm  was  with  me  just  28  days;  24  of  which  he  worked 
very  hard,  and  shewed  good  specimens  of  his  genius,  assiduity,  and 
modest  behaviour,  much  to  my  satisfaction.  He  finished  for  me  1 2 
views.  He  first  of  all  sketches  his  scapes  with  a  lead-pencil ;  then  he 
pens  them  all  over,  as  he  calls  it,  with  india-ink,  rubbing  out  the  super- 
fluous pencil-strokes ;  then  he  gives  a  charming  shading  with  a  brush 
dipped  in  indian-ink ;  and  last  he  throws  a  light  tinge  of  water-colours 
over  the  whole.  The  scapes,  many  of  them  at  least,  looked  so  lovely 
in  their  indian-ink  shading,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  artist  could 
prevail  on  me  to  permit  him  to  tinge  them ;  as  I  feared  those  colours 
might  puzzle  the  engravers ;  but  he  assured  me  to  the  contrary." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Samuel  Barker,  November  i,  1776,  we  find: 

"  In  24  days  Mr.  Grimm  finished  for  me  1 2  drawings ;  the  most 


GILBERT   WHITE  145 

elegant  of  which  are  i,  a  view  of  the  village  and  hanger  from  the 
short  Lithe  [the  large  folding  frontispiece] ;  2,  a  view  of  the  S.  E. 
end  of  the  hanger  and  its  cottages,  taken  from  the  upper  end  of  the 
street ;  3,  a  side  view  of  the  old  hermitage,  with  the  hermit  standing 
at  the  door,  [the  vignette  on  the  title-page] :  this  piece  he  is  to  copy- 
again  for  Uncle  Harry ;  4,  a  sweet  view  of  the  short  Lithe  and  Dor- 
ton  from  the  lane  beyond  Peasecod's  house.  He  took  also  two  views 
of  the  Church  [opposite  pp.  315,  323];  two  views  of  my  outlet; 
a  view  of  the  Temple- Farm  [opposite  p.  342] ;  a  view  of  the  vil- 
lage from  the  inside  of  the  present  hermitage ;  Hawkley  hanger,  which 
does  not  prove  very  engaging ;  and  a  grotesque  and  romantic  drawing 
of  the  water-fall  in  the  hollow  bed  of  the  stream  in  Silkwood's  vale  to 
the  N,  E.  of  Berriman's  house.  You  need  not  wonder  that  the  drawings 
you  saw  by  Grimm  did  not  please  you ;  for  they  were  3s.  6d.  pieces 
done  for  a  little  ready  money ;  so  there  was  no  room  for  softening  his 
trees,  &c.  He  is  a  most  elegant  colourist ;  and  what  is  more,  the  use 
of  these  fine  natural  stainings  is  altogether  his  own,  yet  his  pieces  were 
so  engaging  in  India-ink  that  it  was  with  regret  that  I  submitted  to 
have  some  of  them  coloured  ..."  The  plates  bear  the  legend, 
"  PubHshed  Nov^  i.  1788  as  the  Act  directs,  by  B.  White  &  Son." 

The  work  appeared  anonymously  at  the  end  of  1788,  but  it  is 
dated  the  next  year.  It  was  sold  for  one  guinea,  in  boards.  Fifty 
copies  were  printed  on  large  paper,  with  the  plate  on  page  3  in  colors. 
Although  it  seems  to  have  sold  well,  it  was  the  only  edition  issued 
during  the  author's  lifetime.  White  wrote  to  a  friend  in  1789  :  "  My 
book  is  still  asked  for  in  Fleet  Street.  A  gent,  came  the  other  day, 
and  said  he  understood  that  there  was  a  Mr.  White  who  had  lately 
published  two  books,  a  good  one  and  a  bad  one ;  the  bad  one  was 
concerning  Botany  Bay  ^  A  Voyage  to  New  South  Wales,'  by  John 
White  (no  relation),  pubhshed  in  1790],  the  better  respecting  some 
parish." 

The  index,  which  White  described  when  he  was  making  it  as  "an 
occupation  full  as  entertaining  as  that  of  darning  of  stockings,"  was 
criticised  for  not  being  full  enough,  a  criticism  applicable  to  every 
edition  issued  since  the  first. 

Quarto. 

Collation:  i  /,,  v.,  468//.,  7  //.     Seven  plates. 


EDMUND    BURKE 

(1729— 1797) 

63.  Reflections  |  On  The  |  Revolution  In  France,  |  [Four 
lines]  In  A  |  Letter  |  Intended  To  Have  Been  Sent 
To  A  Gentleman  |  In  Paris.  |  By  The  Right  Honorable 
I  Edmund  Burke.  |  London:  |  Printed  For  J.  Dodsley,  in 
Pall  Mall.  I  M.DCC.XC. 

It  was  well  known,  long  before  the  book  appeared,  that  Burke  was  at 
work  upon  this  subject.  As  early  as  October,  1789,  he  had  written  a 
letter  expressing  his  opinion  on  the  revolutionary  movement  in  France, 
and  in  this  volume  he  but  gave  in  permanent  form  a  more  elaborate 
and  careful  presentation  of  the  same  subject.  Interest  in  the  new 
volume  was  in  no  way  diminished,  but  rather  increased  by  the  delay ; 
and  when  the  little  book  made  its  appearance,  November  i,  in  a  modest 
unlettered  wrapper  of  gray  paper,  selling  for  five  shillings,  it  created  a 
profound  impression.  The  King  called  it  "  a  good  book,  a  very  good 
book ;  every  gentleman  ought  to  read  it,"  and  it  ran  into  eleven  editions, 
or  eighteen  thousand  copies,  within  a  twelvemonth. 

Our  author  and  his  publishers  were  well  known  to  each  other  at  this 
time:  they  had  issued  his  A  Vindication  of  Natural  Society  in  1756  ; 
and  he  had  been  the  conductor  and  chief  editor  of  the  historical  por- 
tion of  their  Annual  Register  for  a  number  of  years. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  iv^  356  pp. 


146 


THOMAS   PAINE 

(1737— 1809) 

64.  Rights  Of  Man :  |  Being  An  |  Answer  To  Mr.  Burke's 
Attack  I  On  The  |  French  Revolution.  |  By  |  Thomas 
Paine,  |  Secretary  For  Foreign  Affairs  to  Congress  In 
The  I  American  War,  And  |  Author  Of  The  Work  En- 
titled Common  Sense.  |  London :  |  Printed  for  J.  John- 
son, St.  Paul's  Church- Yard.  |  MDCCXCI. 

"Mr.  Burke's  Attack,"  as  we  have  seen,  appeared  in  November,  1790, 
and  Paine  immediately  replied  with  the  first  part  of  his  "Answer." 
Joseph  Johnson,  who  printed  Cowper's  Task^  and  published  for  Home 
Tooke,  Fuseli,  Bonnycastle  and  Miss  Edgeworth,  began  the  work  and 
issued  a  few  copies,  but  he  became  frightened  at  the  serious  outlook 
and  gave  it  up.  It  was  then  put  into  the  hands  of  J.  S.  Jordan,  of 
No.  166  Fleet  Street,  who  reissued  it  March  13,  1791,  under  the 
superintendence  of  three  of  Paine's  friends,  Paine  himself  having  in 
the  meantime  gone  to  Paris.  There  were  a  few  corrections  in  the  spell- 
ing of  some  words,  some  passages  were  softened,  and  a  preface  to  the 
English  edition,  which  Paine  sent  back  from  Europe,  was  added  to 
the  new  edition. 

The  success  of  the  book  was  enormous,  and  it  ran  into  edition  after 
edition.  In  a  letter  to  Washington,  to  whom  it  was  dedicated,  Paine 
says,  under  date  of  July  21,  1791  : 

"...  I  took  the  liberty  of  addressing  my  late  work  '  Rights  of  Man', 
to  you ;  but  tho'  I  left  it  at  that  time  to  find  its  way  to  you,  I  now  re- 
quest your  acceptance  of  fifty  copies  as  a  token  of  remembrance  to 
yoiirself  and  my  Friends.  The  work  has  had  a  run  beyond  anything 
that  has  been  published  in  this  Country  on  the  subject  of  Government, 
and  the  demand  continues.  In  Ireland  it  has  had  a  much  greater.  A 
letter  I  received  from  DubUn,  i  oth  of  May,  mentioned  that  the  fourth 

147 


148  THOMAS    PAINE 

edition  was  then  on  sale.  I  know  not  what  number  of  copies  were 
printed  at  each  edition,  except  the  second,  which  was  ten  thousand  .  .  . 

"  I  have  printed  sixteen  thousand  copies ;  when  the  whole  are  gone, 
of  which  there  remain  between  three  and  four  thousand,  I  shall  then 
make  a  cheap  edition,  just  sufficient  to  bring  in  the  price  of  printing 
and  paper  as  I  did  by  Common  Sense." 

The  earlier  editions  of  the  first  part  were  made  uniform  with  Burke's 
Reflections,  and  sold,  so  we  learn  from  the  half-title,  for  half  a  crown ; 
the  second  edition  sold  for  three  shillings ;  and  the  cheap  edition, 
which  was  Printed  For  H.  D.  Symonds,  Paternoster  Row,  M,DCC,XCII., 
sold  for  sixpence. 

The  Gazetteer  for  January  25,  contained  the  following  announce- 
ment: "Mr  Paine,  it  is  known,  is  to  produce  another  book  this 
season.  The  composition  of  this  is  now  past,  and  it  was  given  a  few 
weeks  since  to  two  printers,  whose  presses  it  was  to  go  through  as  soon 
as  possible.  They  printed  about  half  of  it,  and  then,  being  alarmed 
by  some  intimations,  refused  to  go  further.  Some  delay  has  thus 
occurred,  but  another  printer  has  taken  it,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
next  month  it  will  appear.  Its  title  is  to  be  a  repetition  of  the  former, 
'The  Rights  of  Man,'  of  which  the  words  'Part  the  Second,'  will  show 
that  it  is  a  continuation." 

The  title  in  full,  runs  as  follows :  Rights  Of  Man,  \  Part  \  The 
Second.  \  Combining  \  Principle  And  Practice.  \  By  |  Thomas  Paine,  \ 
[Pour  lines]  London:  |  Printed  for  J.  S.  Jordan,  No.  166,  Fleet-Street.  \ 
1792. 

The  volume  was  the  same  size  as  the  first  part,  and  contained  178 
pages,  selling,  as  the  half-title  tells  us,  for  three  shillings.  It  was 
dedicated  to  Lafayette.  This  part  was  also  issued  by  Symonds  in  a 
cheap  edition,  uniform  with  the  first  part,  which  sold  for  sixpence. 

The  printer  alarmed  by  the  "intimations"  was  Chapman.  He  had 
offered  successively,  at  different  stages  of  the  publication,  ;^ioo,  ;^5oo, 
and  ;^iooo,  for  the  work,  but  Paine  preferred  to  keep  it  in  his  own 
hands,  fearing,  perhaps,  that  this  was  a  government  attempt  to  sup- 
press the  book.  From  a  financial  point  of  view  he  was  wise,  since,  on 
July  4,  he  handed  over  to  the  Society  for  Constitutional  Information, 
^1000,  which  he  had  already  received  from  sales.  After  Chapman's 
withdrawal,  Jordan  took  up  the  printing,  but  with  the  understanding 
that  if  questioned  he  should  say  that  Paine  was  author  and  publisher, 
and  would  personally  answer  for  the  work. 


THOMAS   PAINE  149 

The  fears  of  the  printers  proved  anything  but  groundless.  The  perse- 
cution, by  imprisonment  or  fines,  of  those  who  were  connected  with  the 
pubhshing  (printing  and  gelling)  of  the  book  would  "astonish  you", 
as  Dr.  Currie  writes  in  1793,  "and  most  of  these  are  for  offences  com- 
mitted many  months  ago.  The  printer  of  the  Manchester  Herald  has 
had  seven  different  indictments  preferred  against  him  for  paragraphs 
in  his  paper;  and  six  different  indictments  for  selling  or  disposing  of 
six  different  copies  of  Paine — all  previous  to  the  trial  oi  Paine.  The 
man  was  opulent,  supposed  worth  20,000  1. ;  but  these  different  actions 
will  ruin  him,  as  they  were  intended  to  do." 

Octavo. 

Collation:    i  /,,  162  pp. 


JAMES    BOSWELL 
(1740— 1795) 

65.  The  I  Life  |  Of  |  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  |  [Twelve 
lines]  In  Two  Volumes.  |  By  James  Boswell,  Esq.  | 
[Quotation]  Volume  The  First.  |  London :  |  Printed  by- 
Henry  Baldwin,  |  For  Charles  Dilly,  In  the  Poultry.  | 
MDCCXCI. 

Boswell  had  published,  the  year  before,  two  specimens  of  his  work : 
The  Celebrated  Letter  from  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.,  to  Philip  Dormer 
Stanhope,  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  now  first  published,  with  notes  by  James 
Boswell,  Esq.,  and  A  Conversation  between  His  Most  Sacred  Majesty 
George  III,  and  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.,  illustrated  with  observations 
by  James  Boswell,  Esq.  They  were  probably  issued  to  secure  the 
copyright,  and  sold  for  half  a  guinea  apiece. 

The  whole  matter  of  publication  of  the  Life  was  a  source  of  no 
small  worry  to  our  author.  He  was  plunged,  at  that  time,  in  pecuniary 
difficulties  due  to  the  piu-chase  of  an  estate  for  ^^2500,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  he  might  be  obliged  to  accept  the  offer  of  Robinson,  the  pub- 
hsher,  of  ;^iooo  for  the  copyright  of  his  beloved  book.  "  But  it  would 
go  to  his  heart,"  he  said,  "to  accept  such  a  sum,  which  he  considered 
far  too  low",  and  he  avoided  the  difficulty  by  borrowing  the  money. 
All  of  these  things  made  him  very  low-spirited : 

"I  am  at  present,"  he  says,  "in  such  bad  spirits  that  I  have  fear 
concerning  it — that  I  may  get  no  profit,  nay,  may  lose — that  the  public 
may  be  disappointed,  and  think  that  I  have  done  it  poorly — that  I 
may  make  many  enemies,  and  even  have  quarrels.  But  perhaps  the 
very  reverse  of  all  may  happen." 

He  worked  very  hard  over  all  the  details  connected  with  the  mak- 
ing of  the  book.  "  I  am  within  a  short  walk  of  Mr.  Malone,  who 
revises  my  '  Life  of  Johnson '  with  me.     We  have  not  yet  gone  over 

150 


JAMES   BOSWELL  151 

quite  a  half  of  it,  but  it  is  at  last  fairly  in  the  press.  I  intended  to 
have  printed  it  upon  what  is  called  an  English  letter,  which  would 
have  made  it  look  better.  I  have  therefore  taken  a  smaller  type, 
called  Picat  and  even  upon  that  I  am  afraid  its  bulk  will  be  very 
large."  He  gave  much  thought  to  the  title-page,  and  we  are  told  that 
it  was  a  long  time  before  he  could  be  perfectly  satisfied.  This  state- 
ment, we  are  compelled  to  assume,  refers  to  the  literary  composition 
of  the  title,  rather  than  to  the  construction  of  the  page :  upon  the  latter 
he  might  have  worked  much  longer  and  still  have  been  dissatisfied. 

The  work  was  at  last  delivered  to  the  world  May  sixteenth  (the 
"  Advertisement "  is  dated  April  twentieth),  and  was  sold  for  two  guineas 
a  copy.  So  successful  was  it  that  by  August  twenty-second,  1 200  out  of 
the  edition  of  1700  copies  were  disposed  of,  and  the  whole  edition 
was  exhausted  before  the  end  of  the  year.  A  supplement  was  issued 
in  1793,  at  one  guinea;  and  a  second  edition  with  eight  additional 
sheets  appeared  in  July  of  the  same  year. 

With  all  Boswell's  fussiness  many  mistakes  crept  into  the  print- 
ing, and  the  book  abounds  in  wrong  paging,  omission  of  pages,  and 
other  things  "of  which,"  says  Fitzgerald,  "the  great  exemplar  is  the 
first  Shakespeare  FoHo."  So  bad  were  these  errors,  indeed,  that  it 
was  found  necessary  to  issue  a  small  quarto  volume  of  forty-two 
pages  to  correct  them.  This  pamphlet  is  sometimes  bound  up  with 
the  second  edition.  It  is  entitled :  The  \  Principal  Corrections  and 
Addition  \  To  The  First  Edition  Of\  Mr.  Boswell's  Life  \  Of\  Dr. 
Johnson.  |  London  :  |  Printed  by  Henry  Baldwin,  |  For  Charles  Dilly 
In  The  Poultry.  \  MDCCXCIII.  \  [Price  Two  Shillings  and  Sixpence. ^ 
"A  Chronological  Catalogue  of  the  Prose  Works  of  Samuel  Johnson, 
L.L.D.,"  is  printed  at  the  end. 

Charles  Dilly,  the  bookseller,  was  well  known  in  his  day.  Beloe 
speaks  of  him  as  "the  queer  little  man  .  .  .  characterized  by  a  dry- 
ness of  manner  peculiarly  his  own."  He  and  his  elder  brother, 
John,  were  famous  not  only  for  their  successful  publishing  ventures, 
but  for  their  dinners  as  well.  Boswell  speaks  of  "  my  worthy  book- 
sellers and  friends,  Messrs.  Dilly,  in  the  Poultry,  at  whose  hospitable 
and  well  covered  table  I  have  seen  a  greater  number  of  Uterary  men 
than  at  any  other,  except  that  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds." 

The  engraved  portrait  of  Doctor  Johnson  by  James  Heath,  after  the 
painting  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  1756,  which  forms  the  frontispiece 
to  the  first  volume,  bears  the  inscription :   "  Samuel  Johnson.     From 


152  JAMES   BOSWELL 

the  original  Picture  in  the  Pofsefsion  of  James  Boswell,  Esq.  PubHfh'd 
April  lo,  1 791,  by  C.  Dilly."  A  plate  of  facsimiles  of  Dr.  Johnson's 
handwriting,  and  another  showing  a  "  Round  Robin,  addrefsed  to 
Samuel  Johnson,  L.L.D.,  with  Facsimiles  of  the  Signatiures,"  add  to 
the  interest  of  the  second  volume.  Both  plates  were  engraved  by 
H.  Shepherd. 

Quarto. 

Collation:    Two  volumes.   Volume  I :  xii  pp.,  ^  II,,  t^i6 pp.     Vol- 
ume II:   I  /.,  588^.    Portrait.     Two  plates. 


WILLIAM   WORDSWORTH 

(1770— 1850) 

AND 

SAMUEL   TAYLOR   COLERIDGE 

(1772— 1834) 

66.  Lyrical  Ballads,  |  With  |  A  Few  Other  Poems.  |  Lon- 
don: I  Printed  For  J.  &  A.  Arch,  Gracechurch- Street.  | 
1798. 

In  Cottle,  the  Bristol  bookseller  and  poet,  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge 
found  a  friend  whose  appreciation  of  their  genius  took  a  practical  form. 
As  early  as  1795  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  Coleridge  to  Thomas  Poole 
that  "  Cottle  has  entered  into  an  engagement  to  give  me  a  guinea  and 
a  half  for  every  hundred  lines  of  poetry  I  write,  which  will  be  perfectly 
sufficient  for  my  maintenance,  I  only  amusing  myself  on  mornings ;  and 
all  my  prose  works  he  is  eager  to  purchase,"  When  the  two  poets 
planned  to  issue  a  book  in  which  Coleridge  should  show  "the  dramatic 
treatment  of  supemattu-al  incidents,"  while  Wordsworth  should  try  to 
give  the  charm  of  novelty  to  "things  of  ever[y]  day,"  it  was  Cottle  who 
bought  it.  He  says :  "A  visit  to  Mr.  Coleridge  at  Stowey  has  been  the 
means  of  my  introduction  to  Mr.  Wordsworth,  who  read  me  many  of 
his  Lyrical  Pieces,  when  I  perceived  in  them  a  peculiar  but  decided 
merit.  I  advised  him  to  publish  them,  expressing  a  belief  that  they 
would  be  well  received.  I  further  said  that  he  should  be  at  no  risk ; 
that  I  would  give  him  the  same  sum  which  I  had  given  Mr.  Coleridge 
and  Mr.  Southey,  and  that  it  would  be  a  gratifying  circumstance  to  me 
to  usher  into  the  world,  by  becoming  the  pubHsher  of,  the  first  volumes 
of  three  such  poets  as  Southey,  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth — a  dis- 
tinction that  might  never  again  occur  to  a  provincial  publisher." 

153 


154    WORDSWORTH  AND  COLERIDGE 

He  gave  Wordsworth  thirty  guineas  for  the  copyright,  and  issued  the 
book  with  the  following  imprint :  Bristol:  Printed  by  Biggs  and  Cottle, 
for  T.  N.  Longman,  Paternoster  Row,  London,  1798.  But  this  imprint 
did  not  remain  upon  the  title-page  of  the  whole  edition,  for  Cottle  tells 
us  that  the  sale  was  so  slow,  and  the  severity  of  most  of  the  reviews 
so  great,  that  its  progress  to  oblivion  seemed  ordained  to  be  as  rapid 
as  it  was  certain.  He  parted  with  the  largest  proportion  of  the  five 
hundred  at  a  loss,  to  Mr.  Arch,  a  London  bookseller,  who  bound  up 
his  copies  with  a  new  title-page  bearing  his  name.  The  copies  of 
the  earlier  issue  are  very  rare. 

Shortly  after  the  transfer,  Cottle  retired  from  business,  seUing  all  his 
copyrights  to  Longman  and  Rees,  far-sighted  publishers,  both  of 
whom  were  also  Bristol  men.  In  the  transfer  the  copyright  of  the 
Lyrical  Ballads  was  down  in  the  bill  as  worth  nothing,  whereupon 
Cottle  begged  the  receipt  for  the  thirty  guineas,  and  presented  it  to 
Wordsworth. 

The  work  was  entirely  anonymous,  with  nothing  to  show  that  it 
was  a  joint  production.  Coleridge's  poem.  The  Nightingale,  inserted 
at  the  last  minute,  in  place  of  Lewti,  makes  an  extra  leaf  between 
pages  68  and  69.  It  is  numbered  69  (the  verso  is  blank),  but  no 
apparent  confusion  results  since  the  original  page  69  is  not  numbered, 
in  accordance  with  the  printer's  scheme  of  numbering. 

We  catch  an  interesting  glimpse  of  this  poet-pubUsher  in  a  letter  of 
Coleridge's  to  Robert  Southey,  written  under  date  of  July  22,  1801 : 

"Poor  Joseph!  he  has  scribbled  away  both  head  and  heart. 
What  an  affecting  essay  I  could  write  on  that  man's  character!  Had 
he  gone  in  his  quiet  way  on  a  little  pony,  looking  about  him  with  a 
sheep' s-eye  cast  now  and  then  at  a  short  poem,  I  do  verily  think  from 
many  parts  of  the  "Malvern  Hill,"  that  he  would  at  last  have  become 
a  poet  better  than  many  who  have  had  much  fame,  but  he  would  be 
an  Epic,  and  so 

'  Victorious  o'er  the  Danes,  I  Alfred,  preach, 
Of  my  own  forces,  Chaplain-General.'  " 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  viii,  6^ pp.,  1  I.,  6^-210 pp.,  1  I. 


WASHINGTON    IRVING 

(1783—1859) 

67.  A  History  |  Of  |  New  York,  |  From  The  Beginning  Of 
The  World  To  The  |  End  Of  The  Dutch  Dynasty.  | 
[Eight  Hnes]  By  Diedrich  Knickerbocker.  |  [Quotation] 
In  Two  Volumes.  |  Vol.  I.  |  Published  By  Inskeep  & 
Bradford,  New  York;  |  Bradford  &  Inskeep,  Philadel- 
phia; Wm.  M'll-  I  Henny,  Boston;  Coale  &  Thomas, 
Baltimore ;  |  And  Morford,  Willington,  &  Co.  Charles- 
ton. I  1809. 

Early  in  the  year  1809  a  notice  in  the  newspapers,  headed  "  Distress- 
ing," announced  the  disappearance  from  his  lodgings  of  a  "small 
elderly  gentleman  "  named  Knickerbocker ;  and  another  notice,  signed 
Seth  Handaside,  landlord  of  the  Independent  Columbian  Hotel,  Mul- 
berry Street,  reads : 

"Sir: — You  have  been  good  enough  to  publish  in  your  paper  a 
paragraph  about  Mr.  Diedrich  Knickerbocker,  who  was  missing  so 
strangely  from  his  lodgings  some  time  since.  Nothing  satisfactory 
has  been  heard  of  the  old  gentleman  since ;  but  a  very  curious  kind  of 
a  written  book  has  been  found  in  his  room  in  his  own  handwriting. 
Now  I  wish  you  to  notice  him,  if  he  is  still  alive,  that  if  he  does  not 
return  and  pay  off  his  bill,  for  board  and  lodging,  I  shall  have  to  dis- 
pose of  his  Book,  to  satisfy  me  for  the  same." 

On  December  6,  1809,  the  actual  publication  of  the  work  is  an- 
nounced in  the  American  Citizen  .- 

"Is  This  Day  Published, 
By  Inskeep  And  Bradford — No.  128  Broadway 
A  History  Of  New  York. 
In  2  vols,  duodecimo — price  3  dollars. 

155 


156  WASHINGTON   IRVING 

"  Containing  an  account  of  its  discovery  and  settlement,  with  its  in- 
ternal policy,  manners,  customs,  wars,  &c.,  &c.,  under  the  Dutch  gov- 
ernment, furnishing  many  curious  and  interesting  particulars  never 
before  published,  and  which  are  gathered  from  various  manuscripts 
and  other  authenticated  sources,  the  whole  being  interspersed  with 
philosophical  speculations  and  moral  precepts. 

"This  work  was  found  in  the  chamber  of  Mr.  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker, the  old  gentleman  whose  sudden  and  mysterious  disappearance 
has  been  noticed.  It  is  published  in  order  to  discharge  certain  debts 
he  has  left  behind." 

In  this  way  Irving  chose  to  introduce  his  satire  to  the  world.  The 
book  was  put  to  press  in  Philadelphia  instead  of  in  New  York,  in  order 
the  more  easily  to  preserve  its  anonymous  character. 

The  pretence  that  it  was  a  serious  history  was  carried  even  into  the 
dedication  "To  the  New  York  Historical  Society,"  and  the  work  may 
really  be  described  as  a  practical  joke  in  book  form. 

The  volumes  sold  well,  and,  on  the  whole,  were  well  received. 
Some  members  of  the  old  Dutch  families  of  the  state  saw  in  them  a 
reflection  upon  their  ancestors  that  they  found  it  hard  to  overlook,  and 
Irving  himself  describes  their  indignation  against  him.  Mr.  Pierre  M. 
Irving  tells  us  that  he  heard  his  uncle  say  that  the  avails  of  the  first 
edition  of  The  History  amounted  to  about  three  thousand  dollars. 

A  narrow  folded  plate,  in  the  first  volume,  is  entitled,  "New 
Amsterdam  (Now  New- York)  As  it  appeared  about  the  year  1640, 
while  under  the  Dutch  Government ".  A  legend  beneath  the  engrav- 
ing adds :  "  Copied  from  an  ancient  Etching  of  the  same  size,  Pub- 
lished by  Justus  Danckers  at  Amsterdam".  The  view  is  often  missing, 
being  much  sought  after  by  print  collectors. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :  Two  volumes.  Volume  I :  xxiii,  268  pp.  Volume  II : 
I  /.,  2C^^  pp.    Folded  plate. 


GEORGE  GORDON  BYRON, 

SIXTH    BARON 
(1788— 1824) 

68.  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage.  |  A  Romaunt.  |  By  |  Lord 
Byron  |  [Quotation]  London:  |  Printed  For  John 
Murray,  ^2,  Fleet-Street;  |  William  Blackwood,  Edin- 
burgh; And  John  Gumming,  Dublin.  |  By  Thomas 
Davison,  White-Friars.  |  181 2. 

Robert  Charles  Dallas,  a  "  well-meaning,  self-satisfied,  dull,  industrious 
man,"  Byron's  friend,  having  read  with  enthusiasm  "a.  new  attempt  in 
the  Spenserian  stanza,"  which  Byron  brought  back  from  Italy  with  him, 
undertook  to  find  a  publisher  for  it.  William  Miller,  who  afterward 
sold  out  to  John  Murray,  refused  it  on  the  ground  that  it  contained 
"sceptical  stanzas,"  and  that  it  attacked  Lord  Elgin  as  a  "plunderer." 
To  this  criticism  Byron's  reply  is  characteristic : 

"Reddish's  Hotel,  July  30th,  181 1. 
"  Sir  :  I  am  perfectly  aware  of  the  justice  of  your  remarks,  and  am 
convinced  that,  if  ever  the  poem  is  published,  the  same  objections  will 
be  made  in  much  stronger  terms.  But  as  it  was  intended  to  be  a  poem 
on  Ariostds  plan,  that  is  to  say  on  no  plan  at  all,  and,  as  is  usual  in 
similar  cases,  having  a  predilection  for  the  worst  passages,  I  shall  re- 
tain those  parts,  though  I  cannot  venture  to  defend  them.  Under 
these  circumstances  I  regret  that  you  decline  the  publication,  on  my 
own  account,  as  I  think  the  book  would  have  done  better  in  your 
hands ;  the  pecuniary  part,  you  know,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with. 
But  I  can  perfectly  conceive,  and  indeed  approve  your  reasons,  and 
assure  you  my  sensations  are  not  Archiepiscopal*  enough  as  yet  to 
regard  the  rejection  of  my  Homilies." 

*  Alluding  to  Gil  Bias  and  the  Archbishop  of  Grenada. 

157 


158         GEORGE   GORDON   BYRON 

Murray,  to  whom  the  manuscript  was  next  carried,  was  more  than 
willing  to  undertake  the  publication  of  the  poem.  He  offered  six 
hundred  pounds  for  the  copyright  of  the  first  two  cantos ;  but  Byron, 
refusing  to  keep  the  money  himself,  presented  it  to  the  needy  Dallas. 
Dallas  was  the  intermediary,  at  first,  as  we  learn  from  Byron's  letter 
to  him  dated  August  21,  1811:  "I  do  not  think  I  shall  return  to 
London  immediately,  and  shall  therefore  accept  freely  what  is  offered 
courteously — your  mediation  between  me  and  Mmray."  Again,  in 
a  letter  to  Murray,  August  23,  181 1,  he  says:  "My  friend,  Mr.- 
Dallas,  has  placed  in  your  hands  a  manuscript  poem  written  by  me  in 
Greece,  which  he  tells  me  you  do  not  object  to  publishing." 

The  relations  between  Murray  and  Byron  form  one  of  the  most 
interesting  chapters  in  the  history  of  bookseUing,  redounding  equally 
to  the  credit  of  each.  In  a  letter  to  the  publisher,  dated  September 
5,  181 1,  the  poet  says:  "The  time  seems  to  be  past  when  (as  Dr. 
Johnson  said)  a  man  was  certain  to  'hear  the  truth  from  his  book- 
seller,' for  you  have  paid  me  so  many  compliments,  that  if  I  was  not 
the  veriest  scribbler  on  earth,  I  should  feel  affronted."  Murray  in 
one  letter  asked  him  to  "  obviate  "  some  expressions  concerning  Spain 
and  Portugal,  "  and  with  them,  perhaps,  some  religious  feelings  which 
may  deprive  me  of  some  customers  amongst  the  Orthodox ^^  but 
Byron  refused  to  change  anything,  saying:  "As  for  the  'Orthodox* 
let  us  hope  they  will  buy,  on  purpose  to  abuse — you  will  forgive  the 
one  if  they  do  the  other." 

The  following  extracts  give  us  an  insight  into  our  author's  feelings 
about  the  appearance  and  make-up  of  his  book.  Speaking  of  its  form, 
he  says :  "  He  [Murray]  wants  to  have  it  in  a  quarto,  which  is  a  cursed 
unsaleable  size ;  but  it  is  pestilent  long,  and  one  must  obey  one's  pub- 
lisher." And  to  Murray  himself  he  writes  in  answer  to  a  very  natural 
question:  "...  The  printer  may  place  the  notes  in  his  own  way,  or 
any  way,  so  that  they  are  not  in  my  way.  I  care  nothing  about  types 
or  margins." 

The  use  of  the  poet's  name  on  the  title-page  caused  some  dis- 
cussion, as  we  see  from  a  letter  to  Dallas  already  quoted :  "  I  don't 
think  my  name  will  answer  the  purpose,  and  you  must  be  aware  that 
my  plaguey  Satire  will  bring  the  north  and  south  Grub  Street  down 
upon  the  Pilgrimage j  —  but,  nevertheless,  if  Murray  makes  a  point  of 
it,  and  you  coincide  with  him,  I  will  do  it  daringly ;  so  let  it  be 
entitled  'By  the  author  of  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers.  ..." 


GEORGE  GORDON  BYRON    159 

There  was  another  reason  why  he  did  not  want  his  name  to  appear : 
"  Has  Murray  shown  the  work  to  any  one  ?  He  may — but  I  will 
have  no  traps  for  applause,  ...  I  much  wish  to  avoid  identifying 
Childe  HaroWs  character  with  mine,  and  that,  in  sooth,  is  my  second 
objection  to  my  name  appearing  in  the  title-page."  Later,  however, 
as  we  see,  he  gave  way  on  this  point. 

We  are  indebted  to  Smiles,  in  his  memoirs  of  John  Murray,  for  a 
vivid  picture  of  Byron  as  a  book-maker. 

"He  afterwards  looked  in  [at  32,  Fleet  Street]  from  time  to  time, 
while  the  sheets  [of  Childe  Harold\  were  passing  through  the  press,  fresh 
from  the  fencing  rooms  of  Angelo  and  Jackson.  He  used  to  amuse  him- 
self by  renewing  his  practice  of  Carte  et  Tierce,  with  his  walking-cane 
directed  against  the  book-shelves,  while  Murray  was  reading  passages 
from  the  poem  with  occasional  ejaculations  of  admiration,  on  which 
Byron  would  say,  'You  think  that  a  good  idea,  do  you,  Murray?' 
Then  he  would  fence  and  lunge  with  his  walking  stick  at  some  special 
book  which  he  had  picked  out  on  the  shelves  before  him.  As  Murray 
afterwards  said,  '  I  was  often  very  glad  to  get  rid  of  him! '  " 

The  poem,  that  is,  two  Cantos  of  it,  was  published  March  i,  181 2, 
in  an  edition  of  five  hundred  copies,  which  were  all  sold  in  three  days. 
We  hear  from  Elizabeth,  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  that  "the  subject  of 
conversation,  of  curiosity,  of  enthusiasm,  almost,  one  might  say,  of 
the  moment  is  not  Spain,  or  Portugal,  Warriors  or  Patriots,  but  Lord 
Byron!"  "He  returned,"  she  continues,  "sorry  for  the  severity  of 
some  of  his  lines  (in  the  English  Bards),  and  with  a  new  poem,  Childe 
Harold,  which  he  published.  This  poem  is  on  every  table,  and  him- 
self courted,  visited,  flattered,  and  praised  whenever  he  appears.  He 
has  a  pale,  sickly,  but  handsome  countenance,  a  bad  figure,  and,  in 
short,  he  is  really  the  only  topic  almost  of  every  conversation — the 
men  jealous  of  him,  the  women  of  each  other." 

Thomas  Davison,  the  printer  of  the  book,  was  also  responsible  for 
many  of  the  volumes  of  Campbell,  Moore  and  Wordsworth,  but  he  is 
known  chiefly  for  his  fine  edition  of  Whitaker's  History  of  Rich- 
mondshire,  Rogers's  Italy,  and  Dugdale's  Monasticon  Anglicanum. 
Timperley  speaks  of  the  singular  beauty  and  correctness  of  his  works, 
which  brought  about  him  a  "  connection  "  of  the  most  respectable 
publishers  of  the  day,  and  he  adds :  "  By  improvements  which  he 
made  in  printing  ink,  (a  secret  of  which  he  had  for  a  long  time  the 
exclusive  possession)  and  other  merits,  he  acquired  great  celebrity ; 


i6o    GEORGE  GORDON  BYRON 

and  few  indeed  of  his  competitors,  could  approach  the  characters  of 
what  issued  from  his  press." 

"  For  equal  accuracy  and  beauty,  let  the  palm  be  extended  to  Davi- 
son and  Moyes,"  cries  Mr.  Dibdin  in  The  Bibliographical  Decameron. 
In  a  note  he  adds :  "  Mr.  Davison  is  both  an  excellent  and  an  ele- 
gant printer.  His  Gil  Bias,  published  by  Messrs.  Longman,  Hurst, 
and  Co.  is  quite  worthy  of  the  beautiful  engravings  with  which  that 
edition  is  adorned :  but  his  Arabian  Nights,  by  Scott,  1 8 1 1 ,  in  6 
octavo  volumes,  is,  to  my  eye,  a  more  exquisite  performance." 

Early  in  their  intercourse  Miu-ray  had  said  to  Byron :  "  Could  I 
flatter  myself  that  these  suggestions  were  not  obtrusive,  I  would  hazard 
another,  in  an  earnest  solicitation  that  your  lordship  would  add  the 
two  promised  Cantos,  and  complete  the  Poem."  But  the  volume  con- 
taining the  third  Canto  was  not  issued  until  1816,  when  Murray 
paid  ;^2ooo  for  it.  The  fourth  Canto,  in  a  much  thicker  volume, 
came  out  two  years  afterward,  and  for  this  ;^2ioo  were  received  by 
the  poet.     The  second  volume  sold  for  5s.  6d.,  and  the  last  for  12s. 

Byron  must  have  carried  his  point  about  the  size,  for  these  last 
volumes  were  issued  in  octavo. 

Quarto. 

Collation:  vi pp.,  i  /.,  226pp.     Facsimile. 


JANE   AUSTEN 

(1775— 1817) 

69.  Pride  |  And  |  Prejudice :  |  A  Novel.  |  In  Three  Vol- 
umes. I  By  The  |  Author  Of  "  Sense  And  Sensibility." 
I  Vol.  I.  I  London:  |  Printed  For  T.  Egerton,  |  Military 
Library,  Whitehall.  |  1813. 

Egerton  published  Sense  and  Sensibility  in  181 1,  while  Pride  and  I^eju- 
dice  (originally  named  First  Impressions)^  which  had  been  finished  in 
August,  1797,  was  first  offered  by  Miss  Austen's  father  to  Cadell,  the 
famous  publisher,  in  the  following  letter : 

"Sir, — I  have  in  my  possession  a  manuscript  novel,  comprising  3 
vols.,  about  the  length  of  Miss  Burney's  *  Evelina.'  As  I  am  well 
aware  of  what  consequence  it  is  that  a  work  of  this  sort  sh**  make  its 
first  appearance  under  a  respectable  name,  I  apply  to  you.  I  shall 
be  much  obliged,  therefore,  if  you  will  inform  me  whether  you  choose 
to  be  concerned  in  it,  what  will  be  the  expense  of  publishing  it  at  the 
author's  risk,  and  what  you  will  venture  to  advance  for  the  property 
of  it,  if  on  perusal  it  is  approved  of.  Should  you  give  any  encour- 
agement, I  will  send  you  the  work. 

"Steventon,  near  Overton,  Hants. 
"i*\  Nov.  1797." 

Cadell  refused  the  book  without  reading  it,  and  it  was  finally  car- 
ried to  Egerton,  who  accepted  the  story  and  made  it  into  an  attractive 
volume,  although  Gifford,  who  afterward  read  it  for  Murray  with  a 
view  to  publishing  Emma,  tells  us  that  it  was  " —  wretchedly  printed, 
and  so  pointed  as  to  be  almost  unintelligible." 

Mansfield  Park  and  Emma,  like  her  two  earlier  novels,  were  is- 
sued  anonymously  during  Miss  Austen's  lifetime.     Though  the  au- 

161 


i62  JANE   AUSTEN 

thor's  name  was  an  open  secret,  it  did  not  appear  in  any  of  her  books 
until  the  year  after  her  death,  when  her  brother,  Henry  Austen, 
announced  it  in  a  short  biographical  notice  prefixed  to  Northanger 
Abbey  and  Persuasion. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  were  received  from  the  sale  of 
Sense  and  Sensibility,  and  less  then  seven  hundred  pounds  from  the 
sale  of  all  four  books  issued  before  the  two  novels  of  1818. 

The  work,  "  my  own  darling  child,"  as  Miss  Austen  called  it,  ap- 
peared in  January,  and  she  says  of  it :  "  There  are  a  few  typical 
errors ;  and  a  '  said  he,'  or  a  '  said  she,'  would  sometimes  make  the 
dialogue  more  immediately  clear ;  but  '  I  do  not  write  for  such  dull 
elves '  as  have  not  a  great  deal  of  ingenuity  themselves.  The  second 
volume  is  shorter  than  I  could  wish ;  but  the  difference  is  not  so  much 
in  reality,  as  in  look." 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :   Three  volumes. 


SAMUEL   TAYLOR   COLERIDGE 

(1772  —  1834) 

70.  Christabel :  |  Kubla  Khan,  |  A  Vision ;  |  The  Pains  Of 
Sleep.  I  By  |  S.  T.  Coleridge,  Esq.  |  London :  |  Printed 
for  John  Murray,  Albemarle-Street,  |  By  William  Bul- 
mer  And  Co.  Cleveland- Row,  |  St.  James's.  |  1816. 

Coleridge,  writing  to  his  wife,  April  4,  1803,  says:  "To-day  I  dine 
again  with  Sotheby.  He  had  informed  me  that  ten  gentlemen  who 
have  met  me  at  his  house  desired  him  to  sohcit  me  to  finish  the 
'  Christabel,'  and  to  permit  them  to  publish  it  for  me ;  and  they 
engaged  that  it  should  be  in  paper,  printing,  and  decorations  the  most 
magnificent  thing  that  had  hitherto  appeared.  Of  course  I  declined 
it.  The  lovely  lady  shan't  come  to  that  pass!  Many  times  rather 
would  I  have  it  printed  at  Soulby's  on  the  true  ballad  paper.  How- 
ever, it  was  civil,  and  Sotheby  is  very  civil  to  me." 

It  was  not  until  May  8,  181 6,  that  the  still  unfinished  poem  of 
Christabel  was  offered  to  Murray,  who,  upon  Byron's  recommenda- 
tion, so  Lamb  tells  us,  agreed  to  take  it,  paying  seventy  guineas  for 
it,  "until  the  other  poems  shall  be  completed,  when  the  copyright 
shall  revert  to  the  author."  Christabel  is  in  two  parts.  The  "three 
parts  yet  to  come,"  and  which  Coleridge  in  the  Preface  said  he  hoped 
would  be  finished  in  the  present  year,  never  appeared.  Kubla  Khan; 
Or  A  Vision  In  A  Dream  is  prefaced  by  a  short  introduction.  The 
seventy  guineas  Coleridge  turned  over  to  a  needy  friend.  Murray 
also  gave  ";£'2o  for  permission  to  pubhsh  the  other  fragment  of  a 
poem,  Kubla  Khan,  but  which  the  author  should  not  be  restricted  from 
publishing  in  any  other  way  that  he  pleased." 

We  may  not  pass  over  this  book,  modest  as  it  is  in  appearance, 
without  giving  a  quotation  from  the  voluble  Dibdin  on  the  merits  of 
its  printer  and  his  press,  "The  Shakespeare  Press."     "Trivial  as  the 

163 


i64     SAMUEL   TAYLOR   COLERIDGE 

theme  may  appear,"  says  he,  "  there  are  some  very  reasonable  folks 
who  would  prefer  an  account  of  this  eminent  press  to  the  '  History  of 
the  Seven  Years  War:'  and  I  frankly  own  myself  to  be  of  that  num- 
ber. Nor  is  it  — with  due  deference  be  it  said  to  William  Bulmer  & 
Co. —  from  the  least  admiration  of  the  exterior  or  interior  of  this 
printing-office  that  I  take  up  my  pen  in  behalf  of  it ;  but  because  it 
has  effectually  contributed  to  the  promotion  of  belles-lettres,  and 
national  improvement  in  the  matter  of  puncheon  and  matrix." 

Dibdin  might  have  said  more,  without  exaggeration ;  some  of  the 
chief  glories  of  English  typography  came  from  the  hands  of  William 
Bulmer  &  Co.,  works  like  the  edition  of  Shakespeare  of  Alderman 
Boydell ;  The  Poetical  Works  of  John  Milton,  in  three  volumes,  with 
engravings  after  designs  by  R.  Westall ;  Goldsmith's  Traveller  and 
Deserted  Village,  with  engravings  upon  wood  by  Thomas  Bewick ; 
Somerville's  Chase,  with  engravings  by  John  and  Thomas  Bewick ; 
Forster's  edition  of  The  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments  in  five  vol- 
umes, with  illustrations  after  Smirke's  designs ;  and  last,  but  not  least, 
Dibdin's  own  Bibliotheca  Spenceriana.  Specimens  of  printing  such  as 
these  justify  Bulmer's  claim  that  great  strides  had  been  taken  toward 
raising  the  art  from  the  depths  to  which  it  had  fallen. 

One  is  tempted  to  wonder  if  the  ten  gentlemen  friends  of  Sotheby, 
smitten  by  the  mania  for  this  new-found  mode  of  expression  in  book- 
making,  could  have  had  it  in  mind  to  issue  Christabel  with  designs  by 
Bewick,  or  Westall,  or  Smirke. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  vii,  d^pp-,  2  //. 


SIR  WALTER   SCOTT 

(1771  — 1832) 

71.  Ivanhoe;  |  A  Romance.  |  By  "The  Author  OfWaver- 
ley,"  &c.  I  [Quotation]  In  Three  Volumes.  |  Vol.  I.  | 
Edinburgh  :  |  Printed  For  Archibald  Constable  And  Co. 
Edinburgh :  |  And  Hurst,  Robinson,  And  Co.  90,  Cheap- 
side,  London.  |  1820. 

Constable  offered  "  The  Author  of  Waverley  "  ;!^7oo  for  its  copyright ; 
but  was  told  that  the  sura  was  too  little  if  the  book  succeeded,  and  too 
much  if  it  failed.  The  success  of  the  novel,  when  it  appeared,  July  7, 
1 814,  was  enormous.  One  thousand  copies  were  sold  in  the  first  five 
weeks,  and  six  editions  were  necessary  within  the  year.  The  whole 
English-reading  world  waited  for  another  book  from  the  same  pen. 
Ivanhoe  appeared,  December  18,  18 19,  and  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen 
says  that  it  was  "  Scott's  culminating  success  in  a  book-selling  sense, 
and  marked  the  highest  point  both  of  his  literary  and  social  pros- 
perity." 

The  "  Waverley  novels  "  had  been  issued  in  duodecimo,  but  this  vol- 
ume marked  a  change  to  a  new  size.  The  paper  was  finer  than 
hitherto,  and  the  press-work  much  better.  The  price,  too,  was  raised 
from  eight  shillings  the  volume  to  ten.  These  changes  were  made, 
Lockhart  tells  us,  to  assist  the  impression,  which  it  was  thought  best 
to  create,  that  Ivanhoe  was  by  a  new  hand ;  but  "  when  the  day  of 
publication  approached,  [Constable]  remonstrated  against  this  experi- 
ment, and  it  was  accordingly  abandoned."  The  sale  of  the  novel,  in 
the  early  editions,  amounted  to  12,000  copies.  Its  popularity  to-day 
is  as  great  as  ever. 

Scott's  persistence  in  keeping  up  his  anonymity  is  well  known.     In 

165 


i66  SIR   WALTER   SCOTT 

agreements  with  Constable  a  clause  was  introduced  making  the  pub- 
lisher liable  to  a  penalty  of  ^2000  if  the  author's  name  were  revealed. 
A  survey  of  Scott's  publishing  ventures  would  hardly  be  complete 
without  a  word  concerning  this  publisher  with  whom  his  fortunes  were 
so  inseparably  connected.  Curwen  says:  "From  1790  to  1820  Edin- 
burgh richly  deserved  the  honorable  title  of  *  Modern  Athens.'  Her 
University  and  her  High  School,  directed  by  men  preeminently  fitted 
for  their  duties  ...  attracted  and  educated  a  set  of  young  men,  un- 
rivalled, perhaps,  in  modem  times  for  genius  and  energy,  for  wit  and 
learning.  Nothing,  then,  was  wanting  to  their  due  encouragement  but 
a  liberal  patron,  and  this  position  was  speedily  occupied  by  a  pub- 
lisher who,  in  his  munificence  and  venturous  spirit,  soon  outstripped  his 
boldest  EngHsh  rival — whose  one  fault  was,  in  fact,  that  of  always  be- 
ing a  Maecenas,  never  a  tradesman."  By  his  Uberality  to  writers.  Con- 
stable transformed  the  publishing  business,  and  practically  put  it  upon 
a  new  basis.  He  made  it  possible  for  authors  to  do  away  with  aristo- 
cratic patrons,  and  to  stand  upon  their  own  merits.  Scott  had  good 
reason  to  say,  even  after  his  disastrous  participation  in  Constable  and 
Co.'s  failure,  "  Never  did  there  exist  so  intelligent  and  so  liberal  an  es- 
tabUshment." 

Octavo. 

Collation  :    Three  volumes. 


JOHN    KEATS 

(1795— 1821) 

72.  Lamia,  |  Isabella,  |  The  Eve  Of  St.  Agnes,  |  And  | 
Other  Poems.  |  By  John  Keats,  |  Author  Of  Endymion.  | 
London :  |  Printed  For  Taylor  And  Hessey,  |  Fleet- 
Street.  I  1820. 

The  poems  in  this  volume  represent  the  labor  of  a  Httle  over  a  year 
and  a  half — that  is,  from  March,  1 818,  to  October,  181 9, — and  were  all 
written  after  the  publication  of  Endymion.  The  book  was  issued  in 
the  beginning  of  July,  and  was  the  third,  and,  as  it  proved,  the  last  of 
the  poet's  works.  "My  book  is  coming  out,"  said  he,  "with  very  low 
hopes,  though  not  spirits,  on  my  part.  This  shall  be  my  last  trial ; 
not  succeeding,  I  shall  try  what  I  can  do  in  the  apothecary  line."  It 
was  not  lack  of  success,  however,  that  led  him  to  discontinue  the  pub- 
lishing line. 

Among  the  "other  poems"  mentioned  on  the  title-page  is  Hyperion. 
A  Fragment.  The  publishers,  who  seem  to  have  cordially  appreciated 
Keats's  genius,  refer  to  it  in  a  special  "Advertisement"  placed  after 
the  title-page,  and  dated  Fleet-Street,  June  26,  1820: 

"If  any  apology  be  thought  necessary  for  the  appearance  of  the 
unfinished  poem  of  Hyperion,  the  publishers  beg  to  state  that  they 
alone  are  responsible,  as  it  was  printed  at  their  particular  request,  and 
contrary  to  the  wish  of  the  author.  The  poem  was  intended  to  have 
been  of  equal  length  with  Endymion,  but  the  reception  given  to  that 
work  discouraged  the  author  from  proceeding." 

The  volume  was  issued  in  light  brown  paper-covered  boards,  at 
7s.  6d.,  and  our  poet  says  in  a  letter  to  Charles  A.  Brown:  "My 
book  has  had  good  success  among  the  literary  people,  and  I  believe 
has  a  moderate  sale."  And  again  he  writes  on  this  subject  to  Mr. 
Brown,  August,  1820:   "The  sale  of  my  book  is  very  slow,  though  it 

167 


i68  JOHN    KEATS 

has  been  very  highly  rated.  One  of  the  causes,  I  understand  from 
different  quarters,  of  the  unpopularity  of  this  new  book,  is  the  offence 
the  ladies  take  at  me.  On  thinking  that  matter  over,  I  am  certain 
that  I  have  said  nothing  in  a  spirit  to  displease  any  woman  I  would 
care  to  please ;  but  still  there  is  a  tendency  to  class  women  in  my 
books  with  roses  and  sweetmeats, — they  never  see  themselves  domi- 
nant." 

On  the  verso  of  the  title-page  of  some  copies,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
book,  we  find  London:  Printed  by  Tliomas  Davison,  Whitefriars,  a 
guarantee  for  the  excellence  of  the  typography,  the  key-note  of  which 
is  struck  in  the  admirably  arranged  title-page. 

Duodecimo. 
Collation:  3  //.,  iggpp. 


PERCY   BYSSHE    SHELLEY 
(1792 — 1822 ) 

'j'^i'  Adonais  |  An  Elegy  On  The  Death  Of  John  Keats,  | 
Author  Of  Endymion,  Hyperion  Etc.  |  By  |  Percy.   B. 
Shelley   |    [Quotation]     Pisa  |   With    The    Types    Of 
Didot  I  MDCCCXXI. 

Charles  Oilier,  the  publisher,  received  the  following  interesting  letter 
from  Shelley,  dated  at  Pisa,  June  8,  182 1  : 

"Dear  Sir, — You  may  announce  for  pubhcation  a  poem  entitled 
"  Adonais."  It  is  a  lament  on  the  death  of  poor  Keats,  with  some  inter- 
posed stabs  on  the  assassins  of  his  peace  and  of  his  fame ;  and  will  be 
preceded  by  a  criticism  on  "  Hyperion,"  asserting  the  due  claims  which 
that  fragment  gives  him  to  the  rank  which  I  have  assigned  him.  My 
poem  is  finished,  and  consists  of  about  forty  Spenser  stanzas.  I  shall 
send  it  you,  either  printed  at  Pisa,  or  transcribed  in  such  a  manner  as  it 
shall  be  difficult  for  the  reviser  to  leave  such  errors  as  assist  the  obscurity 
of  the  "Prometheus."  But  in  case  I  send  it  printed,  it  will  be  merely 
that  mistakes  may  be  avoided  ;  [so]  that  I  shall  only  have  a  few  copies 
struck  off  in  the  cheapest  manner." 

The  latter  course  was  finally  decided  upon.  The  manuscript  was 
sent  to  the  printer  at  Pisa  on  June  16,  1821,  and  the  first  finished 
copy,  in  a  blue,  ornamented  paper  wrapper,  was  received  July  13. 
This  was  not  slow  work,  and  the  more  remarkable  when  it  is  known 
that  there  are  very  few  printer's  errors  in  the  book.  This  accuracy  is 
due  to  the  great  pains  Shelley  took  in  revising  the  proofs. 

The  volume,  and  especially  the  untrimmed  copies  measuring 
10x7^  inches,  are  beautiful  in  appearance.  There  is  a  certain  marked 
peculiarity  in  the  typography,  however,  which  is  explained  by  Mr. 

169 


I70  PERCY   BYSSHE   SHELLEY 

Forman  in  this  way:  "The  frequent  dashes,  which  seem  to  have 
exactly  the  value  usual  with  Shelley,  are  all  double  the  usual  length,  ex- 
cept in  two  instances.  The  fact  is  that,  in  Shelley's  bold  writing, 
these  dashes  were  very  long :  the  English  printers  would  understand 
this ;  but  Didot's  people  seem  to  have  followed  them  literally ;  and 
the  book  being  boldly  printed,  this  peculiarity  would  not  be  likely  to 
strike  Shelley  in  revising." 

The  name  of  the  press  at  Pisa  is  not  given ;  the  fact  that  the  "  Types 
of  Didot "  were  used  does  not  of  course  necessarily  mean  that  the 
Didots  had  an  office  there,  as  Mr.  Forman  would  seem  to  imply. 

In  the  preface  Shelley  speaks  as  if  he  had  changed  his  mind  about 
issuing  the  criticism  of  Hyperion  with  this  volume,  as  he  planned 
to  do  in  the  letter  to  Oilier.  "  It  is  my  intention  to  subjoin  to  the 
London  edition  of  this  poem,  a  criticism  upon  the  claims  of  its 
lamented  object  to  be  classed  among  the  writers  of  the  highest  genius 
who  have  adorned  our  age."    No  London  edition  is  known,  however. 

The  poem  was  first  printed  in  England  in  the  columns  of  the  Liter- 
ary Chronicle  for  December  i,  182 1,  where  it  was  appended  to  a 
review ;  but  in  this  form  stanzas  XIX  to  XXIV  were  omitted.  The 
earliest  separate  reprint  bears  the  impress  Cambridge :  tinted  by 
W.  Metcalfe,  and  sold  by  Messrs.  Gee  &*  Bridges,  Market-Hill. 
MDCCCXXIX. 

Two  quotations  from  an  interesting  unpublished  letter,  belonging  to 
a  member  of  the  Grolier  Club,  show  that  OUier,  who  had  been  the  pub- 
lisher of  most  of  Shelley's  works,  had  copies  of  the  Pisa  book  for  sale, 
shortly  after  it  was  issued ;  the  letter  is  addressed  to  "  Mefsf  Oilier 
&  Co.,  Booksellers  Vere  Street,  Bond  St.,  London,  Angleterre,"  and 
reads : 

"  Bagni.  July  27.  1821 

"  Dear  Sir 

"  I  send  you  the  bill  of  lading  of  the  box  containing  Adonais :  and 
I  send  also  a  copy  to  yourself  by  M'  Gisbome  who  probably  will 
arrive  before  the  Ship  .  .  .  The  work  I  send  you,  has  been  seen  in 
print  by  Mf  Gisbome,  &  has  excited,  as  it  must  in  every  one,  the 
deepest  interest. 

"  Dear  Sir,  Yours  very  truly 

"  P.  B.  Shelley." 

Quarto. 

Collation:  2% pp. 


CHARLES   LAMB 

(1775— 1834) 

74.  Elia.  I  Essays  Which  Have  Appeared  Under  That 
Signature  |  In  The  |  London  Magazine.  |  London :  | 
Printed  For  Taylor  And  Hessey,  |  Fleet-Street  |  1823. 

"Poor  Elia,"  says  Lamb  in  a  letter  to  the  publisher,  Taylor,  under 
date  of  July  30,  1821,  "Poor  Elia,  the  real  (for  I  am  but  a  counter- 
feit), is  dead.  The  fact  is,  a  person  of  that  name,  an  Italian,  was  a 
fellow-clerk  of  mine  at  the  South  Sea  House  thirty  (not  forty)  years 
ago,  when  the  characters  I  described  there  existed,  but  had  left  it  like 
myself  many  years ;  and  I,  having  a  brother  now  there,  and  doubting 
how  he  might  relish  certain  descriptions  in  it,  I  clapt  down  the  name 
of  Elia  to  it,  which  passed  off  pretty  well,  for  Elia  himself  added 
the  function  of  an  author  to  that  of  a  scrivener,  like  myself. 

"  I  went  the  other  day  (not  having  seen  him  for  a  year)  to  laugh 
over  with  him  at  my  usurpation  of  his  name,  and  found  him,  alas !  no 
more  than  a  name,  for  he  died  of  consumption  eleven  months  ago,  and 
I  knew  not  of  it. 

"So  the  name  has  fairly  devolved  to  me,  I  think,  and  'tis  all  he  has 
left  me." 

In  this  way  our  author  himself  accounts  for  the  pseudonym,  which, 
by  the  way,  he  says  should  be  pronounced  "Ellia." 

The  London  Magazine,  London  :  Printed  for  Baldwin,  Cradock,  And 
Joy,  was  estabhshed  in  January,  1820 ;  but  Taylor  and  Hessey  did  not 
become  its  proprietors  until  July  of  the  following  year,  when  Taylor, 
who  was  something  of  a  writer  himself,  especially  on  monetary  sub- 
jects, acted  as  editor,  with  Thomas  Hood  as  sub-editor.  John  Scott, 
whom  Byron  described  as  "  a  man  of  very  considerable  talents  and  of 
great  acquirements,"  had  been  called  to  the  editorship  when  Lamb 
began  his  essays,  and  William  Hazlitt  was  on  the  staff, 

171 


172  CHARLES    LAMB 

The  first  of  the  series  appeared  in  the  August  number,  1820,  and 
the  papers  continued  until  October,  1822,  when,  twenty-seven  having 
been  issued,  they,  with  one  other  called  Valetitine's  Day,  which  had 
appeared  in  the  Indicator  for  February,  1821,  were  collected  to  form 
this  volume. 

When  the  book  was  in  press  Lamb  thought  to  use  a  dedication, 
which  he  wrote  and  sent  to  Taylor  with  the  following  note,  dated 
December  7,  1822  : 

"  Dear  Sir —  I  should  like  the  enclosed  Dedication  to  be  printed, 
unless  you  dislike  it.  I  like  it.  It  is  in  the  olden  style.  But  if  you 
object  to  it,  put  forth  the  book  as  it  is ;  only  pray  don't  let  the  printer 
mistake  the  word  curt  for  curst.  C.  L. 

"  On  better  consideration,  pray  omit  that  Dedication.  The  Essays 
want  no  Preface :  they  are  all  I^eface.  A  Preface  is  nothing  but  a  talk 
with  the  reader ;  and  they  do  nothing  else.     Pray  omit  it. 

"  There  will  be  a  sort  of  Preface  in  the  next  Magazine,  which  may 
act  as  an  advertisement,  but  not  proper  for  the  volume. 

"  Let  Elia  come  forth  bare  as  he  was  bom." 

The  label  on  the  paper-covered  boards  gives  the  price  of  the 
volume  as  9s.  6d.,  a  fairish  price  for  the  neat,  but  in  no  way  re- 
markable piece  of  book-making  which  Thomas  Davison  executed  for 
the  publishers. 

Some  copies  of  the  first  edition  show  a  variation  in  the  imprint : 
Messrs.  Taylor  and  Hessey  having  opened  a  new  shop  at  i3,  Waterloo 
Place,  this  address  was  printed  in  a  line  below  the  old  one.  Occasion 
was  also  taken,  at  this  time,  to  furnish  the  book  with  a  half-title. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  iv,  ^^i pp. 


SAMUEL   PEPYS 

(1633— 1703) 

75.  Memoirs  |  Of  |  Samuel  Pepys,  Esq.  F.R.S.  |  [Two 
lines]  Comprising  |  His  Diary  |  From  1 659-1669,  | 
Deciphered  By  The  Rev.  John  Smith,  A.B.  Of  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge,  |  From  The  Original  Short- 
Hand  MS.  In  The  Pepysian  Library,  |  [Two  lines] 
[Copy  of  one  of  Pepys's  book-plates]  Edited  By  | 
Richard,  Lord  Braybrooke.  |  In  Two  Volumes.  |  Vol. 
I.  I  London  :  |  Henry  Colburn,  New  Burlington  Street.  | 
MDCCCXXV. 

To  the  information  given  on  the  title-page,  the  noble  editor  adds  some 
further  facts  in  a  preface.  He  says  that  the  six  volumes,  closely 
written  in  short-hand  by  Pepys  himself,  had  formed  a  part  of  the  col- 
lection of  books  and  prints  bequeathed  to  Magdalen  College,  where  they 
had  remained  unexamined  (from  the  date  of  Pepys's  death)  until  the 
appointment  of  Lord  Braybrooke's  brother,  George  Neville,  afterwards 
called  Grenville,  as  master  of  the  College.  Under  Neville's  auspices 
they  were  deciphered  by  Mr.  Smith,  whom  his  lordship  had  not  the 
pleasure  of  knowing. 

Pepys  used  short-hand  for  his  notes  because  he  often  had  things  to 
say  which  he  did  not  think  fit  for  all  the  world  to  know ;  and  Lord 
Braybrooke  found  it  "absolutely  necessary  "to  "curtail  the  MS.  ma- 
terially." The  complete  journal,  all  that  it  is  possible  to  print,  was  not 
issued  until  1893. 

Colburn,  the  publisher,  known  for  his  successful  ventures,  and 
especially  for  the  series  called  Colburn' s  Modern  Standard  Novelists 
and  The  Literary  Gazette,  containing  works  by  Bulwer  Lytton,  Lady 
Morgan,  Captain  Marryat,  and  others,  had  been  so  fortunate  with  an 

173 


174  SAMUEL   PEPYS 

issue  of  Evelyn's  Diary  that  he  was  led  into  the  present  undertaking. 
With  this  edition,  which  sold  at  six  pounds  six  shilHngs,  and  with  two 
succeeding  editions  selHng  at  five  guineas,  he  is  reputed  to  have  made 
a  handsome  profit  on  the  twenty-two  hundred  pounds  paid  for  the 
copyright. 

The  large  volumes  with  their  broad  margins  are  handsome  speci- 
mens of  the  excellent  typographical  work  of  the  Bentleys.  They  are 
embellished  with  two  illustrations  in  the  text,  and  thirteen  engraved 
plates.  A  frontispiece  portrait  of  the  author,  after  the  painting  by 
Kneller,  was  engraved  by  T.  Bragg,  and  a  smaller  portrait  used  as  a 
head-piece  to  the  Life  is  signed  R.  W.fculp.  This  last  is  a  copy  of 
one  of  Pepys's  book-plates ;  it  has  the  motto  "  Mens  cujusque  is  est 
Quisque"  above  the  oval  frame,  and  "Sam.  Pepys.  Car.  Et.  lac. 
Angl.  Regib.  A.  Secretis  Admiraliae"  in  two  lines  below.  Another 
book-plate  used  by  the  Secretary  is  copied  on  the  title-page.  Of  the 
remaining  portraits,  one  was  engraved  by  John  Thomson,  while  five 
were  the  work  of  R.  Cooper,  who  also  engraved  the  "View  of  the 
Mole  at  Tangier  "  and  the  "View  of  Mr.  Pepys'  Library."  The  other 
plates,  including  one  showing  facsimiles  of  Pepys's  short-  and  long- 
hand ;  two  of  pedigrees,  and  a  folded  map,  are  signed  "  Sid^  Hall, 
Bury  Strf  Bloomsb^  " 

Some  copies  of  the  book  on  fine  paper,  with  beautiful  impressions 
of  the  plates,  are  marked  in  red  on  the  half-title  page,  "  Presentation 
Copies." 

Quarto. 

Collation  :    Two  volumes.   Volume  I :  i  /.,  xlii,  498,  xlix  pp. 
Volume  II:  2  //.,  348,  vii,  311  //.    Seven  portraits.     Six  plates. 


JAMES    FENIMORE   COOPER 

(1789— 1851) 

76.  The  Last  |  Of  |  The  Mohicans;  |  A  Narrative  Of  | 
1757.  I  By  The  Author  Of  "The  Pioneers."  [Quota- 
tion] In  Two  Volumes.  |  Vol.  I.  |  Philadelphia:  |  H.  C. 
Carey  &  I.  Lea — Chestnut-Street.  |  1826. 

The  Pioneers  was  the  first  of  The  Leather  Stocking  Tales.  It  appeared 
in  1823,  and  was  an  immediate  success;  more  than  3500  copies 
are  said  to  have  been  sold  before  noon  of  the  day  of  pubhcation. 
This  was  reason  enough  for  following  the  custom  of  the  English 
novelists  of  putting  on  the  title-page,  not  the  name  of  the  author,  but 
the  name  of  his  first  success.  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans  appeared 
February  4,  1826,  and  was  also  a  prodigious  success. 

The  surprising  meagerness  of  bibliographical  facts  concerning 
Cooper's  works  is.  Professor  Lounsbury  says  in  his  life  of  the  novel- 
ist, characteristic  of  a  reticence  and  dislike  of  publicity  which  extended 
to  all  his  deahngs.  "The  size  of  the  editions  has  never  been  given  to 
the  public.  The  sale  of  '  The  Pioneers '  on  the  morning  of  its  publi- 
cation has  already  been  noticed,  and  there  are  contemporary  news- 
paper statements  to  the  effect  that  the  first  edition  of  'The  Red 
Rover '  consisted  of  five  thousand  copies,  and  that  this  was  exhausted 
in  a  few  days.  But  it  was  only  from  incidental  references  of  this 
kind,  which  can  rarely  be  relied  upon  absolutely,  that  we,  at  this 
late  day,  are  able  to  give  any  specific  information  whatever. 

"  He  was  unquestionably  helped  in  the  end,  however,  by  what  in 
the  beginning  threatened  to  be  a  serious  if  not  insuperable  obstacle. 
He  was  unable  to  get  any  one  concerned  in  the  book  trade  to  as- 
sume the  risk  of  bringing  out  'The  Spy.'  That  had  to  be  taken  by 
the  author  himself.  In  the  case  of  this  novel,  we  know  positively  that 
Cooper  was  not  only  the  owner  of  the  copyright,   but  of  all  the 

175 


176        JAMES    FENIMORE    COOPER 

edition ;  that  he  gave  directions  as  to  the  terms  on  which  the  work 
was  to  be  furnished  to  the  booksellers,  while  the  publishers,  Wiley 
&  Halsted,  had  no  direct  interest  in  it,  and  received  their  reward 
by  a  commission.  It  is  evident  that  under  this  arrangement  his 
profits  on  the  sale  were  far  larger  than  would  usually  be  the  case. 
Whether  he  followed  the  same  method  in  any  of  his  later  produc- 
tions, there  seems  to  be  no  method  of  ascertaining.  Wiley,  however, 
until  his  death,  continued  to  be  his  publisher,  '  The  Last  of  the  Mo- 
hicans '  went  into  the  hands  of  Carey  &  Lea  of  Philadelphia,  and  this 
firm,  under  various  changes  of  name,  continued  to  bring  out  the 
American  edition  of  his  novels  until  the  year  1844." 

Henry  Charles  Carey,  son  of  Matthew  Carey,  was  as  celebrated  for 
his  writings  on  political  economy  as  for  his  connection  with  this  pub- 
lishing house,  which  was  one  of  the  largest  in  the  country. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.   Volume  1 :  262^.   Volume  II:  2^0  pp. 


WALTER    SAVAGE   LANDOR 

(1775— 1864) 

'J'].  Pericles  And  Aspasia  |  By  |  Walter  Savage  Landor, 
Esq.  I  In  Two  Volumes.  |  Vol.  I.  |  London  |  Saunders 
and  Otley,  Conduit  Street.  |  1836. 

These  volumes  were  issued  in  three  or  more  styles  of  binding :  paper- 
covered  boards,  straight-grain  dull  green  cloth,  and  half  roan  with 
brown  glazed  paper  boards  all  with  paper  labels.  The  publishers' 
advertisements,  two  leaves  at  the  end  of  Vol.  II,  are  the  same  with 
each  style  of  binding. 

This  work  was  written  by  Landor  during  his  residence  at  Fiesole, 
but  it  was  published  after  his  return  to  England.  His  own  choleric 
temperament  and  irascible  manner  unfitted  him  for  personal  dealings 
with  publishers,  as  he  had  found  from  past  experiences,  and  so  the 
arrangements  for  this  pubhcation  were  intrusted  to  his  friend  Mr.  G. 
P.  R.  James,  the  novelist,  who  sold  the  manuscript  to  Saunders  and 
Otley  for  ;^ioo. 

The  following  unpublished  letter  of  Landor's,  belonging  to  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Grolier  Club,  is  interesting  as  referring  to  this  transaction. 

"  My  dear  Sir  : 

"When  I  offered  my  Pericles  to  MM.  Saunders  &  Odey  I  did  not 
suppose  there  was  more  than  enough  for  one  volume,  the  size  of  the 
Examination  of  Shakspeare.  They  told  you  it  would  form  two 
volumes  of  that  size.  Knowing  that  I  had  material  for  thirty  pages 
more,  I  said  that  if  they  would  make  the  first  vol :  300  pp.  I  would 
take  care  that  the  second  should  not  fall  short  of  it  more  than  a  dozen 
pages.  Now  I  have  sent  them  not  thirty  but  a  hundred— and  they 
tell  me  to-day  that  there  is  not  remaining,  for  the  second  volume,  more 
than  175  pp.    I  have,  you  perceive,  already  sent  above  one  third  more 

177 


178  WALTER  SAVAGE   LANDOR 

than  what  I  calculated  the  whole  at,  when  you  had  the  kindness  to 
make  the  agreement  for  me. 

"  In  reply  to  their  letter  I  have  said  that,  if  they  will  give  me  fifty 
pounds  more,  I  will  send  one  hundred  more  pages,  50  within  three 
weeks,  50  more  in  the  three  following ;  and  if  this  does  not  ap- 
pear equitable  to  them  I  leave  it  entirely  to  you.  I  shall  then  have 
given  them  200  pp.  for  fifty  pounds,  when  I  offered  them  only  285  for 
a  hundred.  It  will  be  my  business  to  take  care  that  the  remainder 
shall  fall  as  little  short  as  possible  of  the  preceding.  I  have  further- 
more stipulated  for  twenty  copies.  Many  of  these  will  take  nothing 
from  the  profits,  as  more  than  a  dozen  will  be  given  to  people  who 
certainly  would  not  have  bought  them,  and  who  are  not  likely  to  lend 
them. 

"  A  friend  has  offered  me  some  pheasants,  which  I  have  desired  to  be 
sent  to  you.  I  hope  they  will  please  the  young  lion  with  their  plumage. 
The  first  of  Feb.  I  set  out  for  Clifton :  an  old  favorite  of  mine  for 
winter  and  spring.  I  have  requested  MM  Saunders  to  favour  me  with 
two  (I  should  be  glad  of  three)  copies  of  the  first  volume  as  my  friend 
Ablett's  birthday  is  on  the  31  of  this  month,  and  mine  on  the  30, 
and  I  have  three  friends  to  whom  it  would  delight  me  to  give  them 
before  I  leave  Wales.  With  best  compliments  to  Mrs.  James,  believe 
me  ever, 

"Yrs  very  sincerely 

"  W.  S.  Landor 

"  Llambedr,  Jan.  18  [1836] 

"  I  have  seen  the  last  sheet  of  Vol.  I,  but  not  the  short  Preface  sent 
from  London. 

"  How  can  you  complain  of  your  English.  There  is  hardly  a  fault 
to  be  found  in  the  3  volumes.     I  have  read  them  a  second  time. 

"  G.  P.  R.  James,  Esq. 

"  I  Lloyds  Buildings 

"  Blackheath 

"  London  " 

The  work  appeared  during  the  early  part  of  1836,  and  though  it 
was  received  with  much  praise  by  his  friends,  and  had  many  favor- 
able reviews,  the  sale  dragged.  In  October  of  the  same  year,  Landor, 
in  one  of  his  letters  to  Forster,  refers  to  an  unfavorable  review  which 


WALTER   SAVAGE    LANDOR  179 

appeared  in  Blackwood :  "...  I  am  not  informed  how  long  this 
Scotchman  has  been  at  work  about  me,  but  my  publisher  has  advised 
me,  that  he  loses  ;^i5o.  by  my  Pericles.  So  that  it  is  probable  the 
Edinburgh  Areopagites  have  condemned  me  to  a  fine  in  my  absence ; 
for  I  never  can  allow  any  man  to  be  a  loser  by  me,  and  am  try- 
ing to  economise  to  the  amount  of  this  indemnity  to  Saunders  and 
Otley  ..."  The  money  was  in  fact  paid  back,  and  yet,  curiously 
enough,  as  Forster  relates,  Landor  not  only  forgot,  three  years  later, 
that  he  had  received  a  payment  for  the  copyright,  but  even  that  he 
himself  had  sent  back  the  money,  and  was  making  further  remittances 
to  satisfy  the  supposed  loss.  This  was  stopped  by  a  statement  from 
Mr.  Saunders,  to  which  Landor  refers  in  a  letter  to  Forster :  "  Never, 
in  the  course  of  my  life,  was  I  so  surprised  as  at  the  verification  of  my 
account  with  Saunders ;  for  such  it  is.  Certain  I  am  that  no  part  of 
the  money  was  ever  spent  by  me,  nor  can  I  possibly  bring  to  mind 
either  the  receiving  or  the  returning  of  it  .  .  ." 

The  first  American  edition  of  Pericles  and  Astasia,  in  two  volumes, 
was  published  by  Carey,  Philadelphia,  1839,  ^^  second  English 
edition  in  1849,  and  there  have  been  frequent  editions  since,  both  in 
England  and  in  America. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :    Two  Volumes.     Volume  I :  viii,  299  pp. 
Volume  II :  viii,  343  pp. 


CHARLES   DICKENS 

(1812— 1870) 

78.  The  I  Posthumous  Papers  |  Of  |  The  Pickwick  Club.  | 
By  Charles  Dickens.  |  With  |  Forty-three  illustrations 
by  R.  Seymour  and  |  Phiz.  |  London :  |  Chapman  and 
Hall,  186,  Strand.  |  MDCCCXXXVII. 

An  advertisement  in  the  Times  for  March  26,  1836,  reads: 

"  THE  PICKWICK  PAPERS.— On  the  31st  of  March  will  be 
published,  to  be  continued  monthly,  price  One  Shilling,  the  first  num- 
ber of  the  Posthumous  Papers  of  the  Pickwick  Club,  containing  a 
faithful  record  of  the  Perambulations,  Perils,  Travels,  Adventures,  and 
Sporting  Transactions  of  the  Corresponding  Members.  Edited  by 
Boz.  Each  monthly  Part  embellished  with  four  Illustrations  by  Sey- 
mour.   Chapman  &  Hall,  186  Strand,  and  of  all  booksellers." 

Robert  Seymour,  a  caricaturist,  and  the  illustrator  of  such  works  as 
The  Odd  Volume,  The  Looking  Glass,  and  Humorous  Sketches,  had  been 
employed  by  Chapman  and  Hall  to  illustrate  a  comic  publication 
called  The  Squib  Annual;  and  this  led  him  to  suggest  that  he  should 
make  a  series  of  Cockney  sporting  plates  which  could  be  furnished 
with  letter-press.  Hall  applied  to  Dickens,  then  an  unknown  news- 
paper man,  for  the  text,  a  "  something  which  should  be  a  vehicle  for 
certain  plates  to  be  executed  by  Mr.  Seymour."  Dickens  says  of  this 
proposition :  "  I  objected  .  .  .  My  views  being  deferred  to,  I  thought 
of  Mr.  Pickwick,  and  wrote  the  first  number ;  from  the  proof-sheets 
of  which  Mr.  Seymour  made  his  drawing  of  the  Club  and  his  happy 
portrait  of  its  founder.  I  connected  Mr.  Pickwick  with  a  club,  be- 
cause of  the  original  suggestion ;  and  I  put  in  Mr.  Winkle  expressly 
for  the  use  of  Mr.  Seymour." 

180 


CHARLES   DICKENS  i8i 

The  work  came  out  in  twenty  parts  (parts  nineteen  and  twenty  were 
bound  together),  beginning  in  April,  1836,  and  ending  with  November, 
1837.  They  were  covered  in  light  green  paper  bordered  with  a  design 
by  Seymour,  and  engraved  by  John  Jackson,  a  pupil  of  Bewick  and 
Hervey.  The  title  reads,  The  Posthumous  Papers  of  the  Pickwick 
Club  \Five  lines]  Edited  by  "  Boz.      With  Illustrations  .  .  ." 

The  publication  of  the  second  number  was  delayed  by  the  suicide 
of  Seymour,  whose  mind  gave  way  from  overwork.  This  sad  event 
was  announced  to  the  public  in  a  note,  and  an  apology  was  offered  for 
the  reduction  of  the  number  of  plates  from  four  to  three.  "  When  we 
state  that  they  comprise  Mr.  Seymour's  last  efforts,  and  that  on  one  of 
them,  in  particular  (the  embeUishment  of  the  Stroller's  Tale),  he  was 
engaged  up  to  a  late  hour  of  the  night  preceding  his  death,  we  feel 
confident  that  the  excuse  will  be  deemed  a  sufficient  one." 

The  third  and  succeeding  numbers  contained  two  plates  each. 
Those  in  the  third  part  were  originally  executed  by  Robert  Buss,  who 
learned  to  etch  in  order  to  produce  them.  But  he  gave  up  the  work, 
and  his  plates  were  replaced  in  later  issues  by  others  by  Hablot  K. 
Browne,  or  "  Phiz,"  who  did  the  remaining  plates.  The  last  or  double 
part  contained  three  plates  and  an  engraved  title-page.  With  it  sub- 
scribers received  also  the  printed  title-page,  dedication,  preface,  con- 
tents, Directions  to  the  Binder  and  Table  of  Errata. 

In  the  eighteenth  number,  dated  September  29,  1837,  the  following 
important  announcement  appears : 

"  The  subscribers  to  this  work  and  the  trade  are  respectfully  in- 
formed that  Nos.  XIX.  and  XX,  (with  titles,  contents,  &c.)  will  be 
published  together  on  i*' of  November;  and  that  the  complete  vol- 
ume, neatly  bound  in  cloth,  price  one  guinea,  will  be  ready  for  de- 
livery by  the  14*^  of  that  month,  and  for  which  country  producers  are 
requested  to  send  early  orders  to  their  respective  agents." 

The  venture  was  almost  a  failure  at  first,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
appearance  of  Sam  Weller,  with  the  fifth  number,  that  the  book- 
binder, who  had  prepared  four  hundred  copies  of  the  first  number, 
was  obliged  to  increase  the  supply.  From  this  time  on,  the  demand 
grew  until  the  enormous  output  of  forty  thousand  was  reached  with 
the  fifteenth  number. 

There  are  differences  in  the  various  accounts  of  the  amount  Dickens 
was  to  receive  for  his  work.  A  letter  from  the  publishers  to  him  men- 
tions their  terms  as  nine  guineas  a  sheet  for  each  part  consisting  of  a 


i82  CHARLES   DICKENS 

sheet  and  a  half ;  fifteen  guineas  a  number  was  the  sum  as  stated  by 
Mr.  Edward  Chapman  to  Mr.  Forster ;  and  Dickens  himself,  in  a  let- 
ter to  Miss  Hogarth,  afterwards  his  wife,  says,  fourteen  pounds  a 
month.  During  publication,  he  received  in  checks  from  the  pub- 
lishers ;^3ooo.  In  1837  Chapman  &  Hall  agreed  that  after  five 
years  he  should  have  a  share  in  the  copyright,  on  consideration  that 
he  write  a  similar  book  for  which  he  was  to  receive  ;^30oo,  besides 
having  the  whole  copyright  after  five  years.  Forster  thinks  the 
author  received,  in  all,  ;^2 5,000,  while  the  publishers'  profits  during 
the  three  years  from  1836  to  1839  ^^e  said  to  have  amounted  to 
^14,000  on  the  sale  of  the  work  in  numbers  alone. 

Chapman  &  Hall  issued  the  book  in  volume  form  in  1837,  at 
twenty-one  shillings. 

Mr.  Frederic  G.  Kitton  says  : 

"  There  are  probably  not  more  than  a  dozen  copies  of  the  first  edi- 
tion of  "  Pickwick  "  in  existence.  An  examination  of  a  number  of 
impressions  presumably  of  this  edition  results  in  the  discovery  of 
slight  variations  both  in  plates  and  text.  These  are  especially  notice- 
able in  the  illustrations,  for,  owing  to  the  enormous  demand,  the  plates 
were  re-etched  directly  they  showed  signs  of  deterioration  in  the 
printing,  and  "  Phiz,"  in  reproducing  his  designs,  sometimes  altered 
them  slightly.  The  earliest  impressions  of  the  work  may  be  distin- 
guished by  the  absence  of  engraved  titles  on  the  plates,  and  by  their 
containing  the  original  etchings  by  Seymour  and  Buss,  not  "  Phiz's  " 
replicas  of  them," 

Octavo. 

Collation  :  xiv  pp.,  1  /.,  609  pp.  Forty-five  plates,  including  en- 
graved title-page. 


THOMAS    CARLYLE 

(1795— 1881) 

79.  Sartor  Resartus.  |  In  Three  Books.  |  Reprinted  for 
Friends  from  Eraser's  Magazine.  |  [Quotation]  London  : 
I  James  Eraser,  215  Regent  Street.  |  M.DCCC.XXXIV. 

Carlyle  went  up  to  London  with  Teufelsdrockh  in  his  satchel,  to 
find  a  publisher  for  it.  He  put  much  confidence  in  the  help  of  his 
friend  Francis  Jeffrey,  the  lord  advocate,  who  exerted  himself  chiefly 
to  estabhsh  relations  between  the  author  and  John  Murray. 

Mrs.  Carlyle,  at  home  in  Craigenputtoch,  received  the  following 
letter  from  her  husband,  August  11,  1831 : 

"...  After  a  time  by  some  movements,  I  got  the  company  dis- 
persed, and  the  Advocate  by  himself,  and  began  to  take  counsel  with 
him  about  'Teufelsdrockh.'  He  thought  Murray,  in  spite  of  the 
Radicalism,  would  be  the  better  publisher;  to  him  accordingly  he 
gave  me  a  line,  saying  that  I  was  a  genius  and  would  likely  become 
eminent ;  .  .  .  I  directly  set  off  with  this  to  Albemarle  Street ;  found 
Murray  out ;  returned  afterwards  and  found  him  in,  gave  an  outline 
of  the  book,  at  which  the  Arimaspian  smiled,  stated  also  that  I  had 
nothing  else  to  do  here  but  the  getting  of  it  published,  and  was  above 
all  anxious  that  his  decision  should  be  given  soon.  ..." 

On  the  2 2d  he  wrote  again : 

"  On  Saturday  morning  I  set  out  for  Albemarle  Street.  Murray, 
as  usual,  was  not  in ;  but  an  answer  lay  for  me — my  poor  '  Teufels- 
drockh,' wrapped  in  new  paper,  with  a  letter  stuck  under  the  pack- 
thread, I  took  it  with  a  silent  fury,  and  walked  off.  The  letter 
said  he  regretted  exceedingly,  etc. ;  all  his  literary  friends  were  out  of 
town ;  he  himself  occupied  with  a  sick  family  in  the  country ;  that 
he  had  conceived  the  finest  hope,  etc.     In  short,  that  'Teufelsdrockh ' 

183 


i84  THOMAS   CARLYLE 

had  never  been  looked  into ;  but  that  if  I  would  let  him  keep  it  for  a 
month,  he  would  then  be  able  to  say  a  word,  and  by  God's  blessing  a 
favorable  one. 

"  I  walked  on  through  Regent  Street  and  looked  in  upon  James 
Fraser,  the  bookseller.  We  got  to  talk  about  '  Teufelsdrockh,'  when, 
after  much  hithering  and  thithering  about  the  black  state  of  trade, 
&c.,  it  turned  out  that  honest  James  would  publish  the  book  for  me 
on  this  principle :  if  I  would  give  him  a  sum  not  exceeding  1 50  1. 
sterling!  'I  think  you  had  better  wait  a  little,'  said  an  Edinburgh 
advocate  to  me  since,  when  he  heard  of  this  proposal.  '  Yes,'  I  an- 
swered, 'it  is  my  purpose  to  wait  to  the  end  of  eternity  for  it.'  '  But 
the  public  will  not  buy  books.'  'The  public  has  done  the  wisest 
thing  it  could,  and  ought  never  more  to  buy  what  they  call  books.' 

"Spuming  at  destiny,  yet  in  the  mildest  terms  taking  leave  of 
Fraser,  I  strode  through  the  street  carrying  'Teufelsdrockh'  openly  in 
my  hand  .  .  .  Having  rested  a  Httle,  I  set  out  again  to  the  Long- 
mans, to  hear  what  they  had  to  say." 

The  Longmans,  "honest,  rugged,  punctual-looking  people,"  said 
little  to  the  point,  however,  and  then,  through  Lord  Jeffrey's  efforts 
in  his  behalf,  Murray  offered  as  follows :  "  The  short  of  it  is  this : 
Murray  will  print  an  edition  (750  copies)  of  Dreck  on  the  half- 
profit  system  (that  is,  I  getting  nothing,  but  also  giving  nothing) ; 
after  which  the  sole  copyright  of  the  book  is  to  be  mine  ..." 

Carlyle  then  tried  Colbum  &  Bentley,  but  with  his  mind  made  up 
"unless  they  say  about  100  1.  I  will  prefer  Murray."  These  nego- 
tiations came  to  nothing,  and  back  he  went  to  Murray,  whose  offer 
"is  not  so  bad:  750  copies  for  the  task  of  pubHshing  poor  Dreck, 
and  the  rest  of  him  our  own."  The  terms  were  accepted,  the  manu- 
script was  sent  to  the  printer,  and  a  page  set  up,  when  Murray  re- 
pented his  bargain,  which  had  never  pleased  him,  and,  having  heard 
that  Carlyle  had  carried  his  MS.  elsewhere,  he  seized  the  opportunity 
to  send  the  author  a  note  saying  that  since  he  had,  unbeknown  to  him, 
carried  his  book  to  "  the  greatest  publishers  in  London,  who  had  de- 
clined to  engage  in  it,"  he  must  ask  to  have  it  read  by  some  literary 
friend,  before  he  could  in  justice  to  himself  engage  in  the  printing  of 
it.     The  upshot  was  that  the  manuscript  was  returned  to  its  author. 

"  The  printing  of  '  Teufelsdrockh,'  "  Carlyle  says  to  his  wife,  "  which 
I  announced  as  commencing,  and  even  sent  you  a  specimen  of,  has 
altogether  stopped,  and  Murray's  bargain  with  me  has  biu-st  into  air. 
The  man  behaved  like  a  pig,  and  was  speared,  but  perhaps  without 


THOMAS   CARLYLE  185 

art ;  Jack  and  I  at  least  laughed  that  night  a  gorge  deployee  at  the  an- 
swer I  wrote  his  base  glare  of  a  letter :  he  has  written  again  in  much 
politer  style,  and  I  shall  answer  him,  as  McLeod  advised  my  grand- 
father's people,  'sharp  but  mannerly.'  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  now 
clear  enough ;  Dreck  cannot  be  disposed  of  in  London  at  this  time. 
Whether  he  lie  in  my  trunk  or  in  a  bookseller's  coffer  seems  partly  in- 
different. Neither,  on  the  whole,  do  I  know  whether  it  is  not  better 
that  we  have  stopped  for  the  present.  Money  I  was  to  have  none ; 
author's  vanity  embarked  on  that  bottom  I  have  almost  none ;  nay, 
some  time  or  other  that  the  book  can  be  so  disposed  of  it  is  certain 
enough." 

Nearly  two  years  later,  in  1833,  the  unlucky  Dreck  was  published 
"  piecemeal,"  in  ten  parts  of  ten  pages  each,  in  Eraser's  Magazine,  be- 
ginning with  November  and  running  until  August,  1834.  With  the 
shrewdness  of  his  tribe,  Fraser,  fearing  failure,  paid  only  twelve  guineas 
a  sheet  for  the  work,  though  he  had  been  paying  its  author  twenty 
guineas  a  sheet,  five  guineas  more  than  he  paid  to  any  other  contribu- 
tor. It  turned  out,  however,  that  he  was  wise,  for  the  great  essay 
was  not  a  success,  even  in  the  magazine. 

" '  Magazine  Fraser'  writes  that  * Teuf elsdrockh  *  excites  the  most  un- 
qualified disapprobation  —  a  la  bonne  heure"  said  Carlyle  ;  and  again  : 

" — Literature  still  all  a  mystery ;  nothing  *  paying ; '  *  Teuf elsdrockh ' 
beyond  measure  unpopular ;  an  oldest  subscriber  came  into  him  and 

said,  '  If  there  is  any  more  of  that  d d  stuff,  I  will,'  &c.,  &c. ;  on 

the  other  hand  an  order  from  America  (Boston  or  Philadelphia)  to 
send  a  copy  of  the  magazine  '  so  long  as  there  was  anything  of  Car- 
lyle's  in  it.'     '  One  spake  up  and  the  other  spake  down.'" 

After  the  work  had  run  its  course  in  the  magazine,  about  fifty  copies 
were  struck  off  from  the  types  and  stitched  together  for  distribution 
among  friends. 

It  remained  to  the  honor  of  America,  to  print  the  book  in  1836, 
through  the  energetic  efforts  of  Dr.  LeBaron  Russell.  Emerson  fur- 
nished the  copy  and  a  preface ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  he 
was  able  to  announce  to  Carlyle  the  sale  of  the  whole  edition. 
Another  edition  of  over  a  thousand  copies  was  sold  before  the  first 
English  edition,  "a  dingy,  ill-managed  edition"  of  a  thousand  copies, 
was  published  anonymously  by  Saunders  and  Otley  in  1838. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  i  /.,  107  pp. 


RALPH   WALDO    EMERSON 

(1803— 1882) 

80.  Nature.   |    [Quotation]  Boston:   |  James  Munroe  And 
Company.  |  MDCCCXXXVI. 

"  My  little  book  is  nearly  done.  Its  title  is  *  Nature.'  Its  contents 
will  not  exceed  in  bulk  Sampson  Reed's  '  Growth  of  the  Mind.'  My 
design  is  to  follow  it  by  another  essay,  '  Spirit,'  and  the  two  shall 
make  a  decent  volume."  Thus  Emerson  wrote  to  his  brother  William, 
from  Concord,  June  28,  1836. 

Nature  was,  however,  published  alone  in  September  by  Metcalf, 
Torry  and  Ballou  of  the  Cambridge  Press.  It  received  little  atten- 
tion except  from  "the  representatives  of  orthodox  opinion,"  who 
violently  attacked  it.  Only  a  few  hundred  copies  were  sold,  and  it 
was  twelve  years  before  a  second  edition  was  called  for. 

Duodecimo. 
Collation:  95//. 


186 


WILLIAM    HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

(  1796— 1859) 

81.  History  |  Of  The  |  Conquest  Of  Peru,  |  [Three  lines] 
By  I  WilHam  H.  Prescott,  |  [Two  lines]  [Quotations] 
In  Two  Volumes.  |  Volume  I.  |  New  York :  |  Harper 
And  Brothers,  82  Cliff  Street.  |  MDCCCXLVII. 

George  Ticknor,  in  his  life  of  Prescott,  gives  the  story  of  the  produc- 
tion of  the  History  in  the  following  words : 

"  The  composition  of  the  '  Conquest  of  Peru '  was,  therefore,  finished 
within  the  time  he  had  set  for  it  a  year  previously,  and  the  work  being 
put  to  press  without  delay,  the  printing  was  completed  in  the  latter 
part  of  March,  1847  ;  about  two  years  and  nine  months  from  the  day 
when  he  first  put  pen  to  paper.  It  made  just  a  thousand  pages,  ex- 
clusive of  the  Appendix,  and  was  stereotyped  under  the  careful  cor- 
rection and  supervision  of  his  friend  Mr.  Folsom  of  Cambridge. 

"  While  it  was  passing  through  the  press,  or  just  as  the  stereotyping 
was  fairly  begun,  he  made  a  contract  with  the  Messrs.  Harper  to  pay 
for  seven  thousand  five  hundred  copies  on  the  day  of  publication  at 
the  rate  of  one  dollar  per  copy,  to  be  sold  within  two  years,  and  to 
continue  to  publish  at  the  same  rate  afterwards,  or  to  surrender  the 
contract  to  the  author  at  his  pleasure ;  terms,  I  suppose,  more  liberal 
than  had  ever  been  offered  for  a  work  of  grave  history  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  In  London  it  was  published  by  Mr.  Bentley,  who  pur- 
chased the  copyright  for  eight  hundred  pounds,  under  the  kind  auspices 
of  Colonel  Aspinwall ;  again  a  large  sum,  as  it  was  already  doubtful 
whether  an  exclusive  privilege  could  be  legally  maintained  in  Great 
Britain  by  a  foreigner." 

187 


i88  WILLIAM    HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

The  demand  for  the  book  was  large :  in  five  months  five  thousand 
copies  were  sold  in  America,  and  an  edition  of  half  that  number  sold 
in  England.  By  January  i,  i860,  there  had  been  sold  of  the  Ameri- 
can and  English  editions  together,  16,965  copies.  It  was  translated 
into  Spanish,  French,  German,  and  Dutch. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.  Volume  I:  xl.,  %'2-l  pp-  Volume  II: 
xix,  547  //• 


EDGAR  ALLAN    POE 

(1809 — 1849 ) 

82.  The  Raven  |  And  |  Other  Poems.  |  By  |  Edgar  A.  Poe. 
I  New  York:  |  Wiley  And  Putnam,  161  Broadway.  | 
1845. 

The  poem  first  appeared  in  print  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York 
Evening  Mirror  for  January  29,  1845,  where  N.  P.  Willis,  its  editor, 
says  in  a  note:  "We  are  permitted  to  copy,  (in  advance  of  publica- 
ion,)  from  the  second  number  of  the  American  Review^  the  following 
remarkable  poem  by  Edgar  Poe."  Willis  issued  the  poem  again  in 
the  weekly  edition  of  the  Mirror,  dated  February  8,  and  Charles  F. 
Briggs,  with  whom  Poe  afterward  became  associated,  also  published  it 
in  the  Broadway  Journal  of  the  same  date,  crediting  it  to  "  Edgar  A. 
Poe."  Both  of  these  weeklies  seem  to  have  appeared  before  the 
American  Review  came  out.  We  are  not  told  the  reason  for  Mr. 
George  H.  Colton's  editorial  courtesy  in  permitting  this  advance  pub- 
lication when  the  second,  or  February  number  of  his  paper.  The  Ameri- 
can Review :  A  Whig  Journal  Of  Politics,  Literature,  Art  And  Science, 
was  so  soon  to  appear.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  Willis  and 
Briggs  gave  the  author's  name  freely,  while  Colton's  issue,  as  origi- 
nally intended,  appeared  with  the  pseudonym  of  " Quarles." 

The  poem  was  an  immense  success,  and  was  copied  far  and  wide  in 
all  the  newspapers  of  the  country.  Writing  to  F.  W.  Thomas,  May  4, 
Poe  says : 

"  '  The  Raven  '  has  had  a  great  run,  Thomas  —  but  I  wrote  it  for 
the  express  purpose  of  running  —  just  as  I  did  the  'Gold  Bug,'  you 
know.     The  bird  beat  the  bug,  though,  all  hollow." 

This  popularity  was  the  poet's  greatest  reward,  for  we  learn  that 
the  actual  money  remuneration  was  only  ten  dollars.     Poe  makes  us 

189 


iQo  EDGAR  ALLAN    POE 

think  of  the  early  writers,  like  Bacon  and  Browne,  whom  we  have 
seen  take  to  printing  their  books  to  save  them  from  the  errors  of  the 
unlicensed  publisher.     In  a  preface  to  this  volume  he  writes : 

"These  trifles  are  collected  and  republished  chiefly  with  a  view 
to  their  redemption  from  the  many  improvements  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected  while  going  at  random  '  the  rounds  of  the 
press.'  If  what  I  have  written  is  to  circulate  at  all,  I  am  naturally 
anxious  that  it  should  circulate  as  I  wrote  it  .  .  ." 

From  the  original  straw-colored  paper  covers  in  which  it  appeared, 
about  December,  we  learn  that  the  book  was  issued  as  one  of  a 
series,  Wiley  And  Putnam's  Library  Of  American  Books.  No.  VIII., 
and  that  its  price  was  the  unusual  sum  of  thirty-one  cents.  Among  the 
other  volumes,  its  companions  in  the  set,  were  Journal  of  an  African 
Cruiser,  edited  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne;  Tales  of  Edgar  A.  Poe; 
Letters  from  Italy,  by  J.  T.  Headley;  The  Wigwam  and  the  Cabin,  by 
W.  Gilmore  Simms ;  and  Big  Abel,  by  Cornelius  Mathews. 

Duodecimo. 
Collation:  \ll.,^\pp. 


CHARLOTTE    BRONTE 
(1816— 1855) 

83.  Jane  Eyre.  |  An  Autobiography.  |  Edited  By  |  Currer 
Bell.  I  In  Three  Volumes.  |  Vol.  I.  |  London :  |  Smith, 
Elder,  And  Co.,  Cornhill.  |  1847. 

Under  date  of  August  24,  1847,  Miss  Bronte  wrote  a  letter  to  Messrs. 
Smith,  Elder  &  Co.,  in  which  she  said :  "  I  now  send  you  per  rail  a 
MS.  entitled  'Jane  Eyre,'  a  novel  in  three  volumes,  by  Currer  Bell." 
The  novel  was  accepted,  was  printed  and  published  by  October  six- 
teenth, and  on  the  nineteenth  the  publishers  received  the  following : 

"  Gentlemen, —  The  six  copies  of  '  Jane  Eyre '  reached  me  this 
morning.  You  have  given  the  work  every  advantage  which  good 
paper,  clear  type,  and  a  seemly  outside  can  supply ; —  if  it  fails,  the 
fault  will  be  with  the  author, — you  are  exempt.  I  now  await  the 
judgment  of  the  press  and  the  public.  I  am.  Gentlemen,  yours  re- 
spectfully, C.  Bell." 

Their  judgment  was  decisive,  and  the  book  was  so  great  a  success 
that  a  second  edition,  dedicated  to  Thackeray,  was  issued  January  i8, 
1848. 

Octavo. 

Collation  :   Three  volumes. 


191 


HENRY   WADSWORTH 
LONGFELLOW 

(1807— 1882) 

84.  Evangeline,  |  A  |  Tale  Of  Acadie.  |  By  |  Henry  Wads- 
worth  Longfellow.  |  Boston :  |  William  D.  Ticknor  & 
Company.  |  1847. 

Writing  in  his  journal  under  date  of  October  2,  1847,  Longfellow  says : 
"  Why  does  not  Ticknor  publish  Evangeline  ?  I  am  going  to  town  to 
ask  him  that  very  question.  And  his  answer  was  that  he  should  do  so 
without  further  delay."  An  entry,  dated  October  30,  says,  "Evange- 
line published."  On  November  8,  he  says :  "  Evangeline  goes  on 
bravely.  I  have  received  greater  and  warmer  commendations  than 
on  any  previous  volume.  The  public  takes  more  kindly  to  hexameters 
than  I  could  have  imagined."  On  November  13,  a  third  thousand  is 
recorded,  and  on  April  8  of  the  following  year  we  learn :  "  Next  week 
Ticknor  prints  the  sixth  thousand  of  Evangeline,  making  one  thousand 
a  month  since  its  publication." 

In  1857  the  following  entry  sums  up  the  successful  career  of  the 
poem: 

"  AUibone  wants  to  get  from  the  publishers  the  number  of  copies  of 
my  book  sold  up  to  date,  the  editions  in  this  country  only,"  and 
Evangeline  is  set  down  as  35,850  copies. 

The  poem  was  translated  into  German,  Swedish,  Danish,  Italian, 
Portuguese,  Spanish,  Polish,  and  French,  and  was  made  a  school-book 
in  Italy. 

Sextodecimo. 
Collation:   163//. 


192 


ELIZABETH   BARRETT  BROWNING 

(1806— 1861  ) 

85.  Sonnets.  |  By  |  E.  B.  B.  |  Reading:  |  [Not  For  Publi- 
cation.]  1847. 

This  is  the  first  appearance  in  print  of  the  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese 
which  were  not  published  until  1850,  when  they  were  issued  under  the 
title  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese,  as  a  part  of  the  Poems  by  Elizabeth 
Barrett  Browning. 

Mr.  Browning  told  the  story  of  the  Portuguese  Sonnets  to  Mr.  Ed- 
mund Gosse,  who  printed  the   account  in   Critical  Kit-Kats,  1896: 

"  The  Sonnets  were  intended  for  her  husband's  eyes  alone ;  in  the 
first  instance,  not  even  for  his  .  .  .  Fortunately  for  all  those  who  love 
true  poetry,  Mr.  Browning  judged  rightly  of  the  obligation  laid  upon 
him  by  the  possession  of  these  poems.  *  I  dared  not,'  he  said,  *  reserve 
to  myself  the  finest  sonnets  written  in  any  language  since  Shakespeare's.' 
Accordingly  he  persuaded  his  wife  to  commit  the  printing  of  them  to 
her  friend  Miss  Mitford ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  they  appeared 
in  a  slender  volume  entitled '  Sonnets,  by  E.  B.  B.,'  with  the  imprint 
'  Reading,  1847/  ^^^  marked  '  Not  for  publication.'  " 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  47  pp. 


193 


JAMES    RUSSELL   LOWELL 
(1819— 1891) 

86.  Meliboeus-Hipponax.  |  The  |  Biglow  Papers,  |  Edited,  | 
With  An  Introduction,  Notes,  Glossary,  |  And  Copious 
Index,  I  By  |  Homer  Wilbur,  A.M.,  |  [Three  lines] 
[Quotations]  Cambridge:  |  Published  By  George  Nich- 
ols. I  1848. 

Writing  to  Thomas  Hughes  on  September  13,  1859,  Lowell  says: 
"  I  tried  my  first  "  Biglow  Papers  "  in  a  newspaper,  and  found  that 
it  had  a  great  run.  So  I  wrote  the  others  from  time  to  time  during 
the  year  which  followed,  always  very  rapidly,  and  sometimes  (as 
"What  Mr.  Robinson  thinks")  at  one  sitting. 

"When  I  came  to  collect  them  and  publish  them  in  a  volume,  I 
conceived  my  parson-editor  with  his  pedantry  and  verbosity,  his  ami- 
able vanity  and  superiority  to  the  verses  he  was  editing,  as  a  fitting 
artistic  background  and  foil." 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  show,  in  detail,  the  evolution  of 
the  work. 

"  You  will  find  a  squib  of  mine  in  this  week's  Courier ^^  said  he  to 
Sidney  H.  Gay,  on  June  16,  1846,  "I  wish  it  to  continue  anonymous, 
for  I  wish  Slavery  to  think  it  has  as  many  enemies  as  possible.  If  I 
may  judge  from  the  number  of  persons  who  have  asked  me  if  I  wrote 
it,  I  have  struck  the  old  hulk  of  the  Public  between  wind  and 
water.  .  .  ."  On  the  last  day  of  December,  1847,  he  says  to  C.  F. 
Briggs : 

"I  am  going  to  indulge  all  my  fun  in  a  volume  of  H.  Biglow's 
verses  which  I  am  preparing,  and  which  I  shall  edit  under  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilbur  ...  I  am  going  to  include  in  the  volume 
an  essay  of  the  reverend  gentleman  on  the  Yankee  dialect,  and  on 

194 


JAMES    RUSSELL   LOWELL  195 

dialects  in  general,  and  on  every  thing  else,  and  also  an  attempt  at  a 
complete  natural  history  of  the  Humbug — which  I  think  I  shall  write 
in  Latin.  The  book  will  purport  to  be  published  at  Jaalam  (Mr.  B's 
native  place),  and  will  be  printed  on  brownish  paper  with  those  little 
head  and  tail-pieces  which  used  to  adorn  our  earlier  publications  — 
such  as  hives,  scrolls,  urns,  and  the  like." 

The  latter  part  of  1848  found  the  poet  busily  engaged  in  getting 
out  the  book,  and  he  wrote  to  Gay  in  September : 

"  This  having  to  do  with  printers  is  dreadful  business.  There  was 
a  Mr.  Melville  who,  I  believe,  enjoyed  it,  but,  for  my  part,  I  am 
heartily  sick  of  Typee." 

In  October  he  says : 

"  I  should  have  sent  you  this  yesterday,  but  it  was  not  written,  and 
I  was  working  like  a  dog  all  day,  preparing  a  glossary  and  an  index. 
If  I  ever  make  another  glossary  or  index — !  "  .  .  . 

"...  Hosea  is  done  with,"  he  says  in  November,  "  and  will  soon 
be  out.  It  made  fifty  pages  more  than  I  expected  and  so  took 
longer."  The  volume  appeared  on  the  loth,  and  on  the  25th  he 
again  writes  to  Gay :  "  .  .  .  The  first  edition  of  Hosea  is  nearly  ex- 
hausted already." 

The  following  retrospect,  sent  to  the  same  friend  on  February  26, 
1849,  contains  the  lesson  of  experience: 

"  There  were  a  great  many  alterations  of  spelling  made  in  the  plates 
of  the  "  Biglow  Papers,"  which  added  much  to  the  expense.  I  ought 
not  to  have  stereotyped  at  all.  But  we  are  never  done  with  cutting 
eye-teeth." 

George  Nichols,  who  published  the  book,  was  at  one  time  an  owner 
of  the  University  Book-store,  and,  later,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
University  Press.     He  was  noted  for  his  skill  in  proof-reading. 

The  printing  was  done  by  Metcalf  and  Company,  printers  to  the 
University ;  and  the  little  book  came  out  from  their  hands  innocent 
of  hives,  scrolls,  urns,  or  any  other  ornament.  Something  changed 
the  author's  mind,  too,  regarding  Jaalam  as  the  purporting  place  of 
publication. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation  :    12.  xxxii,  1 63  pp. 


WILLIAM    MAKEPEACE 
THACKERAY 

(1811— 1863) 

87.  Vanity  Fair.  |  A  Novel  without  a  Hero.  |  By  |  William 
Makepeace  Thackeray.  |  With  Illustrations  On  Steel 
And  Wood  By  The  Author.  |  London :  |  Bradbury  and 
Evans,  11,  Bouverie  Street.  |  1848. 

The  name  of  the  book,  as  we  see  it  in  the  delightful  and  altogether 
characteristic  drawing  on  the  engraved  title-page,  reminds  us  of  what 
Miss  Kate  Perry  says  in  her  reminiscences  of  Thackeray : 

"He  told  me,  some  time  afterward,  that,  after  ransacking  his  brain 
for  a  name  for  his  novel,  it  came  upon  him  unawares,  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  as  if  a  voice  had  whispered,  'Vanity  Fair.'  He  said, 
'  I  jumped  out  of  bed,  and  ran  three  times  round  my  room,  uttering 
as  I  went,  *  Vanity  Fair,  Vanity  Fair,  Vanity  Fair.'  " 

It  has  been  repeated,  more  than  once,  that  Vanity  Fair  was  refused 
.  by  Colburn's  Magazine^  and  various  other  publishers,  before  Brad- 
bury and  Evans  undertook  it,  but  Vizetelly,  in  his  Glances  Back 
Through  Seventy  Years,  thinks  that  this  could  not  have  been  the  case, 
since  Thackeray  did  not  finish  the  story  until  long  after  it  had  been 
accepted,  and,  in  fact,  was  well  along  in  the  printer's  hands.  If  re- 
fused, therefore,  it  was  refused  before  it  was  finished.  "I  know  per- 
fectly well  that  after  the  publication  commenced  much  of  the  re- 
mainder of  the  work  was  written  under  pressure  for  and  from  the 
printer,  and  not  infrequently  the  first  instalment  of  '  copy  '  needed  to 
fill  the  customary  thirty-two  pages  was  penned  while  the  printer's  boy 
was  waiting  in  the  hall  at  Young  Street." 

Vizetelly  also  gives  the  following  account  of  the  final  arrangements 
for  the  publication  of  the  book : 

196 


THACKERAY  197 

"  One  afternoon,  when  he  called  in  Peterborough  Court  he  had  a 
small  brown  paper  parcel  with  him,  and  opened  it  to  show  me  his  two 
careful  drawings  for  the  page  plates  to  the  first  number  of  Vanity 
Fair.  Tied  up  with  them  was  the  manuscript  of  the  earlier  part  of 
the  book,  of  which  he  had  several  times  spoken  to  me,  referring  to 
the  quaint  character  that  Chiswick  Mall — within  a  stone's  throw  of 
which  I  was  then  living — still  retained.  His  present  intention,  he 
told  me,  was  to  see  Bradbury  &  Evans,  and  offer  the  work  to  them.  .  . 
In  little  more  than  half  an  hour  Thackeray  again  made  his  appear- 
ance, and,  with  a  beaming  face,  gleefully  informed  me  that  he  had 
settled  the  business.  '  Bradbury  &  Evans,'  he  said,  *  accepted  so 
readily  that  I  am  deuced  sorry  I  did  n't  ask  them  for  another  tenner. 
I  am  certain  they  would  have  given  it.'  He  then  explained  that  he 
had  named  fifty  guineas  per  part,  including  the  two  sheets  of  letter- 
press, a  couple  of  etchings,  and  the  initials  at  the  commencement  of 
the  chapters.  He  reckoned  the  text,  I  remember,  at  no  more  than 
five-and-twenty  shillings  a  page,  the  two  etchings  at  six  guineas  each, 
while  as  for  the  few  initials  at  the  beginnings  of  the  chapters,  he  threw 
those  in." 

Following  the  plan  of  Chapman  and  Hall,  who  issued  Dickens's 
works  in  monthly  parts  in  green  covers,  and  of  Charles  James  Lever's 
publishers,  who  brought  him  out  in  pink,  Bradbury  and  Evans  pub- 
lished Vanity  Fair  in  yellow-covered  numbers  dated  January,  1847,  to 
July,  1848,  and  costing  one  shilling  a  part.  The  title  on  these  paper 
covers  ran :  Vanity  Fair :  Fen  And  Pencil  Sketches  Of  English  So- 
ciety. By  W.  M.  Thackeray  [  Two  lines]  London :  Published  At  The 
Punch  Office,  85,  Fleet  Street.  [One  line]  1847.,  and  there  was  a 
woodcut  vignette. 

There  are  numerous  illustrations  in  the  text,  and  each  part  has  two 
plates,  etchings,  except  the  last,  which  has  three  and  the  engraved 
title-page.  The  last  part  as  published  contained  the  title-page,  dedi- 
cation, "  Before  the  Curtain,"  a  preface,  table  of  contents,  and  list  of 
plates. 

The  earliest  issues  contain,  on  page  336,  a  woodcut  of  the  Marquis 
of  Steyne,  which  was  afterward  suppressed,  the  type  from  pages  336 
to  440  being  shifted  to  fill  the  vacancy.  In  the  first  edition,  too,  the 
title  at  the  head  of  Chapter  I  is  in  rustic  type. 

At  first  the  novel  did  not  sell  well ;  it  was  even  questioned  whether 
it  might  not  be  best  to  stop  its  publication.     But  later  in  the  year, 


198  THACKERAY 

owing  to  some  cause,  perhaps  the  eulogistic  mention  in  Miss  Bronte's 
preface  to  Jane  Eyre,  or,  perhaps,  a  favorable  review  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  its  success  became  assured. 

Mrs.  Carlyle,  writing  to  her  husband,  says:   "Very  good  indeed, 
beats  Dickens  out  of  the  World." 

Octavo. 

Collation:  xvi,  624  pp.     Forty  plates,  including  the  engraved  title- 
page. 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY. 

FIRST  BARON  MACAULAY 
(1800 1859) 

88.  The  I  History  Of  England  |  From  |  The  Accession  Of 
James  II.  |  By  |  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay.  |  Vol- 
ume I.  I  London:  |  Printed  For  |  Longman,  Brown, 
Green,  And  Longmans,  |  Paternoster- Row.  |  1849. 
[-1861]. 

Trevelyan,  in  his  Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulay,  tells  us  there  was 
no  end  to  the  trouble  that  the  author  devoted  to  matters  which  most 
writers  are  glad  to  leave  to  their  publishers.  "  He  could  not  rest  until 
the  lines  were  level  to  a  hair's  breadth,  and  the  punctuation  correct  to 
a  comma ;  until  every  paragraph  concluded  with  a  telling  sentence, 
and  every  sentence  flowed  like  water." 

In  a  footnote  he  adds  this  quotation  from  one  of  Macaulay's 
letters  to  Mr.  Longman,  which,  while  it  referred  to  the  edition  of 
1858,  is  also  indicative  of  his  attitude  toward  this,  the  first  edition : 

"  I  have  no  more  corrections  to  make  at  present.  I  am  inclined  to 
hope  that  the  book  will  be  as  nearly  faultless,  as  to  typographical  exe- 
cution, as  any  work  of  equal  extent  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  world." 

He  was  apprehensive  concerning  the  success  of  the  book.  He  writes, 
"  I  have  armed  myself  with  all  my  philosophy  for  the  event  of  failure," 
but  his  fears  were  groundless. 

"The  people  of  the  United  States,"  says  Trevelyan,  "  were  even  more 
eager  than  the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom  to  read  about  their  com- 
mon ancestors ;  with  the  advantage  that,  from  the  absence  of  an  inter- 
national copyright,  they  were  able  to  read  about  them  for  next  to  noth- 
ing. On  the  4th  of  April,  1849,  Messrs.  Harper,  of  New  York,  wrote 
to  Macaulay :   '  We  beg  you  to  accept  herewith  a  copy  of  our  cheap 

199 


200  MACAULAY 

edition  of  your  work.  There  have  been  three  other  editions  published 
by  different  houses,  and  another  is  now  in  preparation ;  so  there  will 
be  six  different  editions  in  the  market.  We  have  already  sold  forty 
thousand  copies,  and  we  presume  that  over  sixty  thousand  copies  have 
been  disposed  of.  Probably,  within  three  months  of  this  time,  the  sale 
will  amount  to  two  hundred  thousand  copies.  No  work,  of  any  kind, 
has  ever  so  completely  taken  our  whole  country  by  storm.'  An  in- 
direct compliment  to  the  celebrity  of  the  book  was  afforded  by  a 
desperate,  and  almost  internecine,  controversy  which  raged  through- 
out the  American  newspapers  as  to  whether  the  Messrs.  Harper  were 
justified  in  having  altered  Macaulay's  spelling  to  suit  the  orthographical 
canons  laid  down  in  Noah  Webster's  dictionary." 

This  quotation  refers  to  the  first  volume.  The  second  volume  came 
out  in  the  same  year,  but  the  third  and  fourth  did  not  appear  until 
1855.  Volume  five  was  edited  by  Macaulay's  sister,  Lady  Trevelyan, 
in  1 86 1,  It  continued  the  portion  of  the  History  which  was  fairly 
transcribed  and  revised  by  the  author  before  his  death. 

The  posthumous  appearance  of  the  last  volume  reminds  us  of  what 
Mr.  Alexander  B.  Grosart  says  in  his  life  of  Spenser,  apropos  of  the 
promise  on  the  title-page  of  the  Fairy  Queen  that  the  work  should  be 
in  twelve  books  fashioning  twelve  moral  virtues : 

*'  Than  this  splendid  audacity  I  know  nothing  comparable,  unless 
Lord  Macaulay's  opening  of  his  History  of  England,  wherein — with- 
out any  saving  clause,  as  Thomas  Fuller  would  have  said,  of  '  if  the 
Lord  will' — he  pledges  himself  to  write  his  great  Story  down  to 
*  memories '  of  men  *  still  Uving.' " 

Octavo. 

Collation  :  Five  volumes. 


ALFRED  TENNYSON, 

FIRST  BARON  TENNYSON 
(1809 1892) 

89.  In    Memoriam.    |    London.    |    Edward   Moxon,   Dover 
Street.  |  1850. 

In  May  of  the  year  1850,  In  Memoriam  was  privately  printed  for  the 
use  of  friends,  and  soon  afterward  was  pubHshed  in  the  present  form, 
at  six  shillings.  A  second  and  third  editions  were  issued  in  the  same 
year.  They  are  alike  in  all  particulars  except  for  the  correction  of 
two  literal  misprints.  Though  the  book  was  anonymous,  the  author- 
ship was  never  in  doubt. 

A  circumstance  connected  with  its  publication,  though  not  biblio- 
graphical in  its  bearing,  demands  a  passing  word.  "  If  '  In  Memoriam ' 
were  published,"  Hallam  Tennyson  says  in  his  hfe  of  the  laiu"eate, 
"  Moxon  had  promised  a  small  yearly  royalty  on  this  and  on  the 
other  poems,  and  so  my  father  had  decided  that  he  could  now 
honourably  offer  my  mother  a  home.  Accordingly  after  ten  years  of 
separation  their  engagement  was  renewed  .  .  .  Moxon  now  advanced 
;^3oo  —  so  my  uncle  Charles  told  a  friend, —  at  all  events  ^^300 
were  in  my  father's  bank  in  his  name."  With  this  and  their  small 
incomes  combined  they  decided  to  marry.  The  marriage  took  place 
June  13,  the  month  that  saw  the  publication  of  "  In  Memoriam." 

Octavo. 

Collation:  vii,  ixo pp. 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

(1804— 1864) 

90.  The  I  Scarlet  Letter,  |  A  Romance.  |  By  |  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne.  |  Boston  :  |  Ticknor,  Read,  And  Fields  | 
MDCCCL. 

James  T.  Fields,  in  his  little  life  of  Hawthorne,  tells  of  a  visit  to  Salem 
to  see  the  author.     He  goes  on  to  say : 

"...  I  caught  sight  of  a  bureau  or  set  of  drawers  near  where  we  were 
sitting ;  and  immediately  it  occurred  to  me  that  hidden  away  some- 
where in  that  article  of  fumitiure  was  a  story  or  stories  by  the  author 
of  the  'Twice-Told  Tales,'  and  I  became  so  positive  of  it  that  I 
charged  him  vehemently  with  the  fact.  He  seemed  surprised,  I 
thought,  but  shook  his  head  again ;  and  I  rose  to  take  my  leave  .  .  . 
I  was  hurrying  down  the  stairs  when  he  called  after  me  from  the 
chamber,  asking  me  to  stop  a  moment.  Then  quickly  stepping  into 
the  entry  with  a  roll  of  manuscript  in  his  hands,  he  said :  '  How  in 
Heaven's  name  did  you  know  the  thing  was  there  ?  As  you  have 
found  me  out,  take  what  I  have  written,  and  tell  me,  after  you  get 
home  and  have  time  to  read  it,  if  it  is  good  for  anything  .  .  .'  On 
my  way  up  to  Boston  I  read  the  germ  of  '  The  Scarlet  Letter ' ;  be- 
fore I  slept  that  night  I  wrote  him  a  note  all  aglow  with  admiration 
of  the  marvellous  story  he  had  put  into  my  hands,  and  told  him  that 
I  would  come  again  to  Salem  the  next  day  and  arrange  for  its  publi- 
cation." 

It  was  Hawthorne's  first  intention  to  make  the  romance  one  of  a 
volume  of  several  short  stories,  because,  as  he  remarks  to  Mr.  Fields : 

"  A  hunter  loads  his  gun  with  a  bullet  and  several  buckshot ;  and, 
following  his  sagacious  example,  it  was  my  purpose  to  conjoin  the 
one  long  story  with  half  a  dozen  shorter  ones,  so  that,  failing  to  kill 
the  public  outright  with  my  biggest  and  heaviest  lump  of  lead,  I 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE  203 

might  have  other  chances  with  the  smaller  bits,  individually  and  in 
the  aggregate."  But  this  plan  was  finally  changed  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  pubhsh  the  story  alone.  There  was  then  some  talk  about 
a  title  for  it,  "  In  this  latter  event "  (the  event  of  publishing  alone), 
"  it  appears  to  me  that  the  only  proper  title  for  the  book  would  be 
'The  Scarlet  Letter,'  for  'The  Custom  House'  is  merely  introduc- 
tory ..."     And  so  it  was  decided. 

"  If  '  The  Scarlet  Letter '  is  to  be  the  title,"  he  asked  Mr.  Fields, 
"would  it  not  be  well  to  print  it  on  the  title-page  in  red  ink?  I  am 
not  quite  sure  about  the  good  taste  of  so  doing,  but  it  would  certainly 
be  piquant  and  appropriate,  and,  I  think,  attractive  to  the  great  gull 
whom  we  are  endeavoring  to  circumvent."  The  reader  might  ask 
the  bibliophile  if  the  red  title  line,  for  it  was  printed  in  that  way, 
really  did  have  anything  to  do  with  the  circumventing  which  eventu- 
ally took  place. 

On  February  4,  1850,  Hawthorne  wrote  to  Horatio  Bridges: 

"I  finished  my  book  yesterday,  one  end  being  in  the  press  in  Bos- 
ton, while  the  other  was  in  my  head  here  in  Salem ;  so  that,  as  you 
see,  the  story  is  at  least  fourteen  miles  long." 

The  book  appeared  about  March  16.  As  Mr.  George  Parsons 
Lathrop  points  out,  there  seems  to  have  been  no  expectation  of  a 
very  successful  sale,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Fields's  enthusiasm;  but  to  the 
surprise  of  all,  the  whole  issue  was  exhausted  in  ten  days.  A  second 
edition,  with  a  preface  dated  March  30,  was  soon  published,  making, 
with  the  first,  a  total  number  of  five  thousand  copies.  All  these  were 
printed  by  Metcalf  &  Company  of  Cambridge.  The  third  issue  was 
entirely  reset  and  electrotyped,  and  numbered  307  pages. 

The  second  issue,  beside  the  preface,  shows  numerous  changes, 
especially  in  words.  Among  these  the  bookseller's  favorite  catch- 
word "reduplicate"  (p.  21,  1.  20)  was  changed  to  "repudiate."  In 
late  copies  of  the  stereotyped  form,  this  word  was  changed  to  "  re- 
suscitate." 

Duodecimo. 
Collation:  vi,  7^22 pp. 


HARRIET   BEECHER   STOWE 

(1811— 1896) 

91.  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  ;  |  Or,  |  Life  Among  The  Lowly.  | 
By  I  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  |  [Vignette]  Vol.  L  |  Bos- 
ton: I  John  P.  Jewett  &  Company.  |  Cleveland,  Ohio:  | 
Jewett,  Proctor  &  Worthington.  |  1852. 

The  first  chapter  of  Uncle  Tom  appeared  June,  1851,  in  The  National 
Era  of  Washington,  a  magazine  edited  by  Gamaliel  Bailey,  and  one 
of  the  ablest  mediums  of  opinion  of  the  anti-slavery  party.  It  was 
finished  in  April,  1852.     Mrs.  Stowe  received  $300  for  her  labor. 

The  interest  which  the  story  awakened  led  John  Punchard  Jewett, 
a  member  of  the  first  anti-slavery  society  in  New  England,  and  him- 
self a  frequent  contributor  to  the  newspapers  on  anti-slavery  topics,  to 
offer  to  bring  it  out  immediately  in  book  form,  giving  the  author  ten 
per  cent,  on  the  sales.  The  proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  book 
was  published  March  20,  1852.  The  very  remarkable  sale  of  three 
thousand  copies  the  first  day  was  only  an  earnest  of  what  was  to 
happen.  Over  300,000  copies  were  sold  within  the  year,  and  eight 
power-presses  running  day  and  night  could  hardly  supply  the  demand. 

There  is  a  vignette  on  the  title-pages  signed  by  the  engravers, 
Baker-Smith,  and  each  volume  contains  three  unsigned  plates,  evidently 
by  the  same  artist,  and  engraved  by  the  same  hands  as  the  vignette. 
The  volumes  were  bound  in  black  with  the  vignette  of  the  title-page 
stamped  on  the  covers,  the  front  impression  being  in  gold. 

Octavo. 

Collation:  Two  volumes.  Volume  1 :  2>^2 pp.  Volume  II:  322 
pp.     Six  plates. 


204 


JOHN    RUSKIN 

(1819 — 1900) 

92.  The  I  Stones  of  Venice.  |  Volume  The  First.  |  The 
Foundations.  |  By  John  Ruskin,  |  [Two  lines]  With 
Illustrations  Drawn  By  The  Author.  |  London :  |  Smith, 
Elder  And  Co.,  65.  Cornhill.  |  1851.  [-1853.] 

These  fine  volumes,  printed  by  Spottiswoode  and  Shaw,  have  a  par- 
ticularly clean  and  clear  type-page,  and  are  excellent  in  press-work. 
It  is  not  the  type,  however,  that  demands  our  especial  attention,  but 
the  illustrations  with  which  the  work  is  Uberally  furnished.  These 
distinguish  it  from  anything  we  have  hitherto  seen  in  our  Ust  of  books. 
The  plates  and  cuts,  made  by  various  processes,  mezzo-tinting,  lithog- 
raphy, line  engraving  and  wood-cutting,  mark  most  clearly  the  ad- 
vance in  bookmaking  which  had  taken  place  within  the  half  century. 
Hitherto  we  have  had  illustrations  for  their  own  sakes,  or  for  the 
ornamentation  of  the  books  they  are  in,  and  depending  for  their 
existence  solely  upon  the  Uberality  and  intelligence  of  the  publisher; 
but  here  we  have  illustrations  introduced  into  the  book  for  the  sake 
of  the  text,  of  which  they  are  an  integral  part.  Ruskin's  own  words 
about  them,  as  found  in  the  Preface,  are  instructive : 

"  It  was  of  course  inexpedient  to  reduce  drawings  of  crowded 
details  to  the  size  of  an  octavo  volume, —  I  do  not  say  impossible,  but 
inexpedient ;  requiring  infinite  pains  on  the  part  of  the  engraver,  with 
no  result  except  farther  pain  to  the  beholder.  And  as,  on  the  other 
hand,  folio  books  are  not  easy  reading,  I  determined  to  separate  the 
text  and  the  unreduceable  plates.  I  have  given,  with  the  principal 
text,  all  the  illustrations  absolutely  necessary  to  the  understanding  of 
it,  and,  in  the  detached  work,  such  additional  text  as  had  special  refer- 
ence to  the  larger  illustrations. 

"  A  considerable  number  of  these  larger  plates  were  at  first  intended 

205 


2o6  JOHN    RUSKIN 

to  be  executed  in  tinted  lithography ;  but,  finding  the  result  unsatis- 
factory, I  have  determined  to  prepare  the  principal  subjects  for  mezzo- 
tinting,— a  change  of  method  requiring  two  new  drawings  to  be  made 
for  every  subject ;  one  a  carefully  penned  outline  for  the  etcher,  and 
then  a  finished  drawing  upon  the  etching  .  .  . 

"  For  the  illustrations  of  the  body  of  the  work  itself,  I  have  used  any 
kind  of  engraving  which  seemed  suited  to  the  subjects  —  line  and 
mezzotint,  on  steel,  with  mixed  lithographs  and  woodcuts,  at  a  con- 
siderable loss  of  uniformity  in  the  appearance  of  the  volume,  but,  I 
hope,  with  advantage,  in  rendering  the  character  of  the  architecture 
it  describes." 

"The  illustrations  to  the  new  book,"  Collingwood  adds,  "were  a 
great  advance  upon  the  rough  soft-ground  etchings  of  the  Seven 
Lamps.  He  secured  the  services  of  some  of  the  finest  engravers  who 
ever  handled  the  tools  of  their  art.  The  English  school  of  engravers 
was  then  in  its  last  and  most  accomplished  period.  Photography  had 
not  yet  begun  to  supersede  it ;  and  the  demand  for  delicate  work  in 
book  illustration  had  encouraged  minuteness  and  precision  of  handling 
to  the  last  degree.  In  this  excessive  refinement  there  were  the 
symptoms  of  decline ;  but  it  was  most  fortunate  for  Mr.  Ruskin  that 
his  drawings  could  be  interpreted  by  such  men  as  Armytage  and 
Cousen,  Cuff  and  Le  Keux,  Boys  and  Lupton  .  .  .  The  mere  fact  of 
their  skill  in  translating  a  sketch  from  a  note-book  into  a  gem-like 
vignette,  encouraged  him  to  ask  for  more ;  so  that  some  of  the  subjects 
which  became  the  most  elaborate  were  at  first  comparatively  rough 
drawings,  and  were  gradually  worked  up  from  successive  retouchings 
of  the  proofs  by  the  infinite  patience  of  both  parties.  In  other  cases, 
working  drawings  were  prepared  by  Mr.  Ruskin,  as  refined  as  the  plates." 

"  Like  much  else  of  his  work,  these  plates  for  '  Stones  of  Venice ' 
were  in  advance  of  the  times.  The  publishers  thought  them  'caviare 
to  the  general,'  so  Mr.  J.J.  Ruskin  told  his  son ;  but  gave  it  as  his 
own  behef  that  'some  dealers  in  Ruskins  and  Turners  in  1890  will 
get  great  prices  for  what  at  present  will  not  sell.'" 

An  "  Advertisement "  in  the  second  volume  tells  us,  "  It  was  orig- 
inally intended  that  this  Work  should  consist  of  two  volumes  only  ; 
the  subject  has  extended  to  three.  The  second  volume,  however,  will 
conclude  the  account  of  the  ancient  architecture  of  Venice.  The 
third  will  embrace  the  Early,  the  Roman,  and  the  Grotesque  Renais- 
sance ;  and  an  Index  ..." 


JOHN   RUSKIN  207 

The  first  volume,  called  The  Foundations,  and  having  twenty-one 
plates,  and  the  second,  called  The  Sea-Stories,  with  twenty  plates, 
each  cost  two  guineas.  The  third  volume,  called  The  Fall,  with  twelve 
plates,  cost  a  guinea  and  a  half.  They  were  bound  in  cloth,  stamped 
in  gold,  with  the  "  Lion  of  St.  Mark  "  on  the  back.  A  few  copies  of 
both  volumes  one  and  two  were  issued  in  two  parts.  The  first  vol- 
ume ran  into  a  second  edition  in  1858,  and  the  second  and  third 
were  reissued  in  1867. 

Octavo. 

Collation:    Three  volumes.     Illustrations.     Fifty -three  plates. 


ROBERT    BROWNING 

(1812— 1889) 

93.  Men  And  Women.  |  By  |  Robert  Browning.  |  In  Two 
Volumes.  |  Vol.  I.  |  London:  |  Chapman  And  Hall,  193, 
Piccadilly.  |  1855. 

This  was  the  only  edition  of  Men  and  Women  published  separately. 
The  poems  it  contained  were  afterward  incorporated  in  collected 
editions ;  with  the  exception  of  In  a  Balcony,  they  were  distributed 
under  the  respective  headings  of  Dramatic  Lyrics,  Dramatic  Romances, 
and  Men  and  Women. 

The  book  was  issued  in  a  green  cloth  binding,  at  twelve  shillings  a 
copy. 

Octavo. 

Collation  :    Two  volumes.     Volume  I :  iv,  260  pp.     Volume  II : 
iv,  241  //. 


208 


JOHN    LOTHROP    MOTLEY 

(1814— 1877) 

94.  The  Rise  |  Of  The  |  Dutch  RepubHc.  |  A  History.  | 
By  John  Lothrop  Motley.  |  In  Three  Volumes.  |  Vol. 
I.  I  New  York:  |  Harper  &  Brothers,  |  329  &  331 
Pearl  Street.  |  1856. 

Motley  wrote  a  letter  to  his  wife,  dated  at  London,  May  10,  1854, 
in  which  he  says  that  he  has  had  the  matter  of  copyright  looked  up, 
and  finds  that  the  English  law  will  protect  him  if  he  publish  his  book 
recently  completed,  first,  by  however  small  an  interval,  in  England. 
He  then  carried  the  manuscript  to  Murray,  who  received  him  civilly, 
and  professed  interest  in  his  subject,  promising  an  answer  in  a  fort- 
night. But  the  answer,  when  it  came,  was  unfavorable,  and,  being  of 
the  mind  that  "if  Murray  dechnes  ...  I  shall  doubt  very  much 
whether  anybody  will  accept,  because  history  is  very  much  in  his  Hne," 
he  seems  to  have  tried  no  farther,  but  to  have  arranged  with  Mr.  John 
Chapman  to  publish  the  Dutch  Republic  himself. 

Throughout  the  transaction  Motley  was  very  modest  and  not  at  all 
sanguine  for  the  success  of  his  venture. 

"It  cannot  take  in  England,"  he  says  to  his  mother  in  1855,  "and 
moreover  the  war,  Macaulay's  new  volumes,  and  Prescott's,  will  entirely 
absorb  the  public  attention."  And  again  to  his  father.  May  i3,  1856, 
he  says : 

"I  have  heard  nothing  from  Chapman  since  the  book  was  published, 
but  I  feel  sure  from  the  silence  that  very  few  copies  have  been  sold.  I 
shall  be  surprised  if  a  hundred  copies  are  sold  at  the  end  of  a  year." 

In  reality,  the  book,  as  Dr.  Holmes  said,  was  "a  triumph."  Seven- 
teen thousand  copies  were  sold  in  England  alone  during  the  first 
year,  and  in  America,  where  it  was  issued  by  the  Harpers,  just  long 
enough  after  the  English  edition  to  fulfill  all  the  demands   of   the 

209 


2IO  JOHN    LOTHROP   MOTLEY 

copyright  law,  it  was  equally  popular.  Mr.  Murray  afterward  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  publish  The  History  of  the  United  Netherlands,  and 
expressed  his  regret  "at  what  he  candidly  called  his  mistake  in  the 
first  instance."  Prescott,  Motley's  friend  and  generous  rival,  wrote 
from  Boston,  April  18,  1856: 

"You  have  good  reason  to  be  pleased  with  the  reception  the  book 
has  had  from  the  English  press,  considering  that  you  had  no  one 
particularly  to  stand  godfather  to  your  bantling,  but  that  it  tumbled 
into  the  world  almost  without  the  aid  of  a  midwife.  Under  these 
circumstances  success  is  a  great  triumph  ..." 

Octavo. 

Collation  :    Three  volumes. 


GEORGE  ELIOT 

MARY  ANN  OT   MARIAN  CROSS 
(1819— 1880) 

95.  Adam  Bede  |  By  |  George  Eliot  |  Author  Of  |  "Scenes 
Of  Clerical  Life"  |  [Quotation]  In  Three  Volumes  | 
Vol.  I.  I  William  Blackwood  And  Sons  |  Edinburgh 
And  London  |  MDCCCLIX  |  The  Right  of  Transla- 
tion is  reserved. 

Scenes  from  Clerical  Life  had  appeared  in  the  early  part  of  January, 
1858,  and  had  proved  an  unexpected  success,  but  the  name  of  its  au- 
thor, concealed  under  a  pseudonym,  long  proved  a  mystery. 

"  The  first  volume  [of  Adam  Bede],"  says  Mrs.  Cross,  "  was  written 
at  Richmond,  and  given  to  Blackwood  in  March.  He  expressed 
great  admiration  of  its  freshness  and  vividness,  but  seemed  to  hesi- 
tate about  putting  it  in  the  Magazine,  which  was  the  form  of  publica- 
tion he,  as  well  as  myself,  had  previously  contemplated.  He  still 
wished  to  have  it  for  the  Magazine,  but  desired  to  know  the  course 
of  the  story.  At  present  he  saw  nothing  to  prevent  its  reception  in 
'  Maga,'  but  he  would  like  to  see  more.  I  am  uncertain  whether 
his  doubts  rested  solely  on  Hetty's  relation  to  Arthur,  or  whether  they 
were  also  directed  towards  the  treatment  of  Methodism  by  the  Church. 
I  refused  to  tell  my  story  beforehand,  on  the  ground  that  I  would  not 
have  it  judged  apart  from  my  treatment^  which  alone  determines  the 
moral  quality  of  art ;  and  ultimately  I  proposed  that  the  notion  of 
publication  in  '  Maga '  should  be  given  up,  and  that  the  novel  should 
be  published  in  three  volumes  at  Christmas,  if  possible.     He  assented." 

"...  When,  on  October  29,  I  had  written  to  the  end  of  the  love- 
scene  at  the  Farm  between  Adam  and  Dinah,  I  sent  the  MS.  to 
Blackwood,  since  the  remainder  of  the  third  volume  could  not  affect 
the  judgement  passed  on  what  had  gone  before.     He  wrote  back  in 


212  GEORGE   ELIOT 

warm  admiration,  and  offered  me,  on  the  part  of  the  firm,  ;;^8oo  for 
four  years'  copjTight.  I  accepted  the  offer  .  .  .  The  book  would 
have  been  published  at  Christmas,  or  rather  early  in  December,  but 
that  Bulwer's  '  What  will  he  do  with  it  ?  '  was  to  be  pubhshed  by 
Blackwood  at  that  time,  and  it  was  thought  that  this  novel  might 
interfere  with  mine." 

The  book  was  published  the  first  day  of  January  with  the  still  un- 
penetrated  pseudonym  on  the  title-page.  It  cost  thirty  one  shiUings 
and  six  pence.  The  advance  subscriptions  amounted  to  730  copies, 
and  the  following  note,  written  March  16,  gives  the  history  of  its 
success : 

"  Blackwood  writes  to  say  I  am  *  a  popular  author  as  well  as  a 
great  author.'  They  printed  2,090  of  'Adam  Bede,*  and  have  dis- 
posed of  more  than  1800,  so  that  they  are  thinking  of  a  second 
edition." 

In  May,  Blackwood  proposed  to  add,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  ;^4oo 
to  the  ;^8oo  originally  given  for  the  copyright.  A  fourth  edition  of 
5000  volumes  was  issued  in  1859,  all  of  which  were  sold  in  a  fort- 
night ;  a  seventh  was  printed  the  same  year,  and  in  October  Black- 
wood felt  justified  in  proposing  to  pay  ;^8oo  more  at  the  beginning 
of  the  new  year.     The  sale  amounted  to  16,000  volumes  in  one  year. 

Octavo. 

Collation  :   Three  volumes. 


CHARLES   ROBERT    DARWIN 
(1809— 1882) 

96.  On  I  The  Origin  Of  Species  |  [Four  lines]  By  Charles 
Darwin,  M.A.,  [Three  lines]  London:  |  John  Murray, 
Albemarle  Street.  |  1859.  |  The  right  of  Translation  is 
reserved. 

The  simplicity  and  honesty  of  Darwin's  character  are  nowhere  more 
clearly  seen  than  in  his  correspondence  over  the  production  of  this 
book,  which,  from  its  unorthodoxy,  he  feared  might  expose  others  as 
well  as  himself  to  censure.  For  example,  he  says  in  a  letter  of  March 
28,  1859,  to  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  the  famous  geologist,  who  made  the 
arrangements  for  the  publication  of  the  work : 

"  P.S.  Would  you  advise  me  to  tell  Murray  that  my  book  is  not  more 
««-orthodox  than  the  subject  makes  inevitable  ...  Or  had  I  better 
say  nothing  to  Murray,  and  assume  that  he  cannot  object  to  this  much 
unorthodoxy,  which  in  fact  is  not  more  than  any  Geological  Treatise 
which  runs  slap  counter  to  Genesis." 

Afterward,  in  a  letter  to  J.  D.  Hooker,  under  date  of  April  2,  1859, 
he  says : 

"...  I  wrote  to  him  [Mr.  Murray]  and  gave  him  the  headings  of 
the  chapters,  and  told  him  he  could  not  have  the  MSS.  for  ten  days 
or  so ;  and  this  morning  I  received  a  letter,  offering  me  handsome 
terms,  and  agreeing  to  publish  without  seeing  the  MS.!  So  he  is 
eager  enough;  I  think  I  should  have  been  cautious,  anyhow,  but, 
owing  to  your  letter,  I  told  him  most  explicitly  that  I  accepted  his 
offer  solely  on  condition  that,  after  he  has  seen  part  or  all  the  MS.,  he 
has  full  power  of  retracting.  You  will  think  me  presumptuous,  but  I 
think  my  book  will  be  popular  to  a  certain  extent  (enough  to  ensure 
[against]  heavy  loss)  amongst  scientific  and  semiscientific  men  .  .  . 

213 


214       CHARLES   ROBERT   DARWIN 

Anyhow,  Murray  ought  to  be  the  best  judge,  and  if  he  chooses  to 
publish  it,  I  think  I  may  wash  my  hands  of  all  responsibility  ..." 

His  views  on  the  success  of  the  book  are  worth  recording.  To 
Murray  he  writes,  April  5,  1859:  "It  may  be  conceit,  but  I  believe 
the  subject  will  interest  the  public,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  views  are 
original.  If  you  think  otherwise,  I  must  repeat  my  request  that  you 
will  freely  reject  my  work;  and  though  I  shall  be  a  little  disap- 
pointed, I  shall  be  in  no  way  injured."  And  again  to  J.  D.  Hooker: 
".  .  .  Please  do  not  say  to  any  one  that  I  thought  my  book  on 
Species  would  be  fairly  popular,  and  have  a  fairly  remunerative  sale 
(which  was  the  height  of  my  ambition),  for  if  it  proves  a  dead  failure, 
it  would  make  me  the  more  ridiculous." 

After  the  book  went  to  press  he  found  it  necessary  to  make  many 
corrections  involving  no  slight  extra  expense;  without  waiting  for 
Murray  to  complain  he  took  the  initiative  in  setting  the  matter  upon 
the  proper  footing  in  the  following  manner,  in  a  letter  written  June  14, 

1859: 

"P.S.     I  have  been  looking   at   the  corrections,  and  considering 

them.     It  seems  to  me  that  I  shall  put  you  to  quite  unfair  expense. 

If  you  please  I  should  like  to  enter  into  some  such  arrangement  as  the 

following : 

"When  work  completed,  you  to  allow  in  the  account  a  fairly 
moderately  heavy  charge  for  corrections,  and  all  excess  over  that  to 
be  deducted  from  my  profits,  or  paid  by  me  individually." 

".  .  .  But  you  are  really  too  generous  about  the,  to  me,  scandalously 
heavy  corrections.  Are  you  not  acting  unfairly  towards  yourself? 
Would  it  not  be  better  at  least  to  share  the  j^-j  2  8s.  ?  I  shall  be  fully 
satisfied,  for  I  had  no  business  to  send,  though  quite  unintentionally 
and  unexpectedly,  such  badly  composed  MS.  to  the  printers." 

The  first  edition,  a  child,  Darwin  calls  it,  in  whose  appearance  he 
takes  infinite  pride  and  pleasure,  was  published  November  24 : 

"It  is  no  doubt  the  chief  work  of  my  Hfe.  It  was  from  the  first 
highly  successful.  The  first  small  edition  of  1 2  50  copies  was  sold  on  the 
day  of  publication,  and  a  second  edition  of  3000  copies  soon  afterward. 
Sixteen  thousand  copies  have  now  (1876)  been  sold  in  England;  and 
considering  how  stiff  a  book  it  is,  this  is  a  large  sale.  It  has  been 
translated  into  almost  every  European  tongue,  even  into  such  languages 
as  Spanish,  Bohemian,  Polish,  and  Russian.  It  has  also,  according  to 
Miss  Bird,  been  translated  into  Japanese  [a  mistake]  and  is  there 


CHARLES   ROBERT   DARWIN        215 

much  studied.  Even  an  essay  in  Hebrew  has  appeared  on  it,  showing 
that  the  theory  is  contained  in  the  Old  Testament !  " 

The  second  edition  of  3000  copies,  only  a  reprint,  yet  with  a  few 
important  corrections,  was  issued  January  7,  i860.  An  edition  of  2500 
copies  was  issued  in  the  United  States,  where  it  enjoyed  great  popu- 
larity. "I  never  dreamed,"  said  he,  "of  my  book  being  so  successful 
with  general  readers ;  I  believe  I  should  have  laughed  at  the  idea  of 
sending  the  sheets  to  America." 

The  sum  of  ;!^i8o  was  received  by  the  author  for  the  first  edition, 
and  j£6^6  13s.,  for  the  second. 

Duodecimo. 

Collation:  ix,  502^.     Folded  plate. 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 
(1809— 1883) 

97-  Rubdiydt  |  Of  |  Omar  Khayyam,  |  The  Astronomer- 
Poet  Of  Persia.  |  Translated  into  English  Verse.  | 
London :  |  Bernard  Quaritch,  |  Castle  Street,  Leicester 
Square.  |  1859. 

Fitzgerald  first  offered  his  translation  to  the  editor  of  Fraser's  Maga- 
zine, who  returned  it  after  holding  it  a  long  time,  apparently  afraid  to 
publish  it.  It  was  not  until  years  afterward  that  the  poet,  having 
nearly  doubled  the  number  of  the  verses,  issued  it  himself,  anonymously, 
inserting  in  the  imprint,  without  even  asking  permission,  the  name  of 
Bernard  Quaritch. 

The  little  pamphlet  in  brown  paper,  with  its  eleven  pages  of  biog- 
raphy, and  five  pages  of  notes,  against  sixteen  pages  of  poem,  was  not 
attractive  in  appearance ;  and  we  are  told  that  it  was  not  advertised 
in  any  way  except  by  entry  among  the  Oriental  numbers  of  Quaritch's 
catalogue.  So  it  is  really  not  to  be  greatly  wondered  at  that  its  sale 
was  slow,  even  though  the  price  was  set  as  low  as  five  shillings.  Two 
hundred  copies  remaining  on  his  hands,  Quaritch,  who  had  consented 
to  act  as  bookseller,  finally  resorted  to  the  expedient  of  offering  them 
at  half-a-crown,  then  at  a  shilling,  then  at  sixpence,  until  finally  they 
were  cleared  out  at  a  penny  a  volimie. 

Those  who  read  it  at  this  price  acted  as  leaven,  and  nine  years 
afterward,  in  1868,  a  second  edition  was  called  for;  a  third  was  pub- 
lished in  1872,  and  a  fourth  in  1879.  These  were  all  issued  by 
Quaritch  at  his  own  expense,  and  all  without  the  translator's  name. 
Quaritch  paid  Fitzgerald  a  small  honorarium,  which  he  promptly  gave 
away  in  charity. 

Octavo. 

Collation  :  xiii,  2 1  pp. 

216 


JOHN    HENRY    NEWMAN, 

CARDINAL 
(180I 1890) 

98.  Apologia  Pro  Vita  Sua:  |  Being  |  A  Reply  to  a 
Pamphlet  |  Entitled  |  "What,  Then,  Does  Dr.  New- 
man Mean  ? "  [Quotation]  By  John  Henry  Newman, 
D.D.  I  London:  |  Longman,  Green,  Longman,  Rob- 
erts, And  Green.  |  1864. 

The  pamphlet  "  W^a/,  Then,  Does  Dr.  Newman  Mean ?"  A  Reply 
to  a  Pamphlet  lately  published  by  Dr.  Newman.  By  the  Rev.  Charles 
Kingsley.y  was  issued  in  March,  1864.  Cardinal  Newman's  rejoinder 
took  the  form  of  a  series  of  pamphlets.  The  first  appeared  on  Thurs- 
day, April  21,  and  its  brown  paper  cover  bore  the  title  given  above, 
with  the  additional  line,  Pt.  I.  Mr.  Kingslefs  Method  of  Disputation. 
Thereafter,  on  successive  Thursdays,  until  June  16,  the  following 
numbers  appeared :  Pt.  II.  True  Mode  Of  Meeting  Mr.  Kingsley. 
Pt.  III-VI.  History  Of  My  Religious  Opinions.  Pt.  VII.  General 
Answer  To  Mr.  Kingsley.  Appendix.  Answer  in  Detail  To  Mr. 
Kingsley s  Accusations. 

A  title-page  and  "Contents"  were  issued  with  the  Appendix.  Parts 
I,  II,  and  III  cost  a  shilling  each.  Parts  IV,  V,  and  VII,  two  shillings 
each,  Part  VI,  and  the  Appendix,  each  two  shillings  sixpence. 

The  parts  were  issued  afterward  in  a  cloth  binding.  In  later  editions 
almost  all  of  Parts  I  and  II,  and  about  half  of  the  Appendix  were 
omitted,  while  some  new  matter  was  added  in  the  form  of  notes. 

Octavo, 

Collation:  iv,  430,  127  pp. 

217 


MATTHEW  ARNOLD 

(1822— 1888) 

99.  Essays  In  Criticism.  |  By  |  Matthew  Arnold,  |  Professor 
Of  Poetry  In  The  University  Of  Oxford.  |  London  and 
Cambridge:   Macmillan  And  Co.  |  1865. 

The  first  edition  contained  a  satirical  and  not  altogether  tasteful  pref- 
ace which,  Arnold  said  in  a  letter  to  his  mother  before  the  book  was 
out,  "  will  make  you  laugh."  But  later,  in  a  letter  to  Lady  de  Roth- 
schild written  February  11,  1865,  he  says  of  it:  "I  had  read  the 
Preface  to  a  brother  and  sister  of  mine,  and  they  received  it  in  such 
solemn  silence  that  I  began  to  tremble.  .  .  ."  The  silence  of  his 
friends  and  the  criticism  of  others  produced  their  effect  upon  him, 
and  he  writes  again,  to  Lady  de  Rothschild :  "  I  think  if  I  republish 
the  book  I  shall  leave  out  some  of  the  preface  and  notes,  as  being  too 
much  of  mere  temporary  matter  ..." 

The  volume  contained  nine  essays,  afterward  made  ten. 

Professor  Saintsbury  says,  in  reviewing  the  book : 

"  I  am  afraid  it  must  be  taken  as  only  too  strong  a  confirmation  of 
Mr.  Arnold's  belief  as  to  the  indifference  of  the  English  people  to 
criticism  that  no  second  edition  of  the  book  was  called  for  till  four 
years  were  past,  no  third  for  ten,  and  no  fourth  for  nearly  twenty." 

We  get  an  intimation  of  the  terms  on  which  the  book  was  published 
from  the  following  note  to  Miss  Quillinan,  dated  March  8,  1865  : 

"The  book  is  Macmillan's,  not  mine,  as  my  Poems  were,  and  I 
have  had  so  few  copies  at  my  own  disposal  that  they  have  not  even 
sufficed  to  go  the  round  of  my  own  nearest  relations,  to  whom  I  have 
always  been  accustomed  to  send  what  I  write." 

Octavo. 

Collation:  xx,  302^. 


218 


JOHN    GREENLEAF  WHITTIER 

(1807— 1892) 

100.  Snow-Bound.  |  A  Winter  Idyl.  |  By  |  John  Greenleaf 
Whittier.  |  [Vignette]  Boston:  |  Ticknor  And  Fields.  | 
1866. 

It  was  at  first  proposed  to  publish  the  poem  with  illustrations  by  FeUx 
Octavius  Darley,  who  so  successfully  illustrated  Cooper,  Irving,  Long- 
fellow, Lossing,  and  many  others ;  but,  for  some  reason,  this  idea  was 
abandoned,  and  illustration  of  the  work  was  reduced  to  a  vignette 
showing  "a  view  of  the  old  farm  house  in  a  snow  storm,  copied  from 
a  photograph  ..."  It  was  drawn  by  Harry  Fenn.  We  might  re- 
gret that  we  are  thus  the  losers  of  some  characteristic  work  by  Dar- 
ley, but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  agree  with  Whittier,  who,  when 
referring  to  the  proposed  illustrations  of  The  Pageant,  published  later, 
said :  "  I  know  of  no  one  who  could  do  it,  however,  so  well  as  Harry 
Fenn."  The  bit  of  work  reproduced  here  is  in  its  way  quite  as 
worthy  of  commendation  as  that  drawn  by  this  "  Nestor  of  his  guild," 
for  Ballads  of  New  England,  1869,  and  so  appreciatively  reviewed 
by  Mr.  William  Dean  Howells  in  The  Atlantic  for  December. 

The  poet  took  an  unusual  interest  in  the  make-up  of  his  book. 
For  example,  he  says  of  the  vignette : 

"  In  the  picture  of  the  old  home,  the  rim  of  hemlocks,  etc.,  at  the  foot 
of  the  high  hill  which  rises  abruptly  to  the  left,  is  not  seen.  They  would 
make  a  far  better  snow  pictm^e  than  the  oaks  which  are  in  the  view." 

His  remarks,  too,  about  his  portrait  are  particularly  entertaining. 

"  I  don't  know  about  the  portrait.  At  first  thought,  it  strikes  me 
that  it  would  be  rather  out  of  place  at  the  head  of  a  new  venture  in 
rhyme.  I  don't  want  to  run  the  risk  of  being  laughed  at.  How- 
ever, do  as  thee  likes  about  it.  Put  thyself  in  the  place  of  Mrs. 
Grundy,  and  see  if  it  will  be  safe  for  any  '  counterfeit  presentment '  to 
brave  the  old  lady's  criticism." 

219 


220     JOHN    GREENLEAF   WHITTIER 

Mr.  Fields  evidently  dared  to  add  the  portrait.  It  is  a  steel  engrav- 
ing, and  bears,  besides  the  name,  the  following  inscription  :  "  Engraved 
By  H.  W.  Smith.  From  a  Photograph  By  Hawes."  The  book  is 
further  embellished  by  a  woodcut  head-piece  and  an  initial  letter, 
representing  snow  scenes. 

From  other  letters  we  learn  that  Whittier  liked  the  page  and  type 
of  the  volume,  and  in  this  he  showed  himself  a  good  judge.  His 
opinion  is  confirmed  by  those  who  see  in  the  book  an  example  worthy 
of  its  publishers,  all  of  whose  productions,  issued  at  this  period,  are 
good,  while  some  are  beautiful  in  their  simplicity  and  elegance.  When 
the  matter  of  paper  was  brought  up,  the  author  said,  "  Don't  put 
the  poem  on  tinted  or  fancy  paper,  let  it  be  white  as  the  snow  it 
tells  of."  Fifty  copies  were  printed  on  large  paper,  and  were  probably 
given  by  the  poet  only  to  his  friends.  These  embodied  all  the  cor- 
rections afterward  incorporated  in  the  regular  editions. 

Whittier's  feeling  for  appropriateness  is  shown  also  in  the  following 
quotation : 

"  I  wish  it  could  come  out  in  season  for  winter  fireside  reading — 
the  very  season  for  it.  ...  I  shall  dedicate  it  to  my  brother,  and  shall 
occupy  one  page  with  quotations  from  Cor.  Agrippa,  and  from  Em- 
erson's 'Snow  Storm.'  .  .  ." 

He  changed  his  mind  about  the  dedication,  however,  for  the  book 
is  inscribed  "To  the  memory  of  the  household  it  describes." 

Among  the  errors  which  crept  into  the  poem,  one,  the  phrase 
"  Pindus-born  Araxes,"  was  afterward  corrected  to  "  Pindus-born 
Arachthus";  and  another, 

"  The  wedding  knell  and  dirge  of  death," 

held  its  ground  from  1866  until  1893. 

Whittier's  share  in  the  profits  of  Snow-Bound^  we  are  told,  amounted 
to  ten  thousand  dollars. 

Collation:   52//.     Portrait. 


CORRIGENDA 


PAGE 

LINE 

READ 

PAGE 

LINE 

READ 

4 

•    7    • 

copies  are  known 

48 

•   30 

The  second  Volume 

9 

.       2     . 

adminiftracion 

Containing  These 

15 

.    4    • 

The  1  Firfte 

56 

•    7 

length 

16 

•  32    . 

Arber 

61 

•  19 

Grosart 

25 

•    3    • 

authors'  names 

67 

•    4    . 

Decem. 

25 

.  10    . 

youngmans 

69 

•    7    • 

Beaumont 

33 

.  20    . 

Imprented 

77 

•    5   • 

Dunstan's 

34 

•    4    . 

diffwafion.  | 

79 

•    9    • 

in 

34 

.    6    . 

the  1  blacke 

86 

•  27    . 

The  month  of  Sep- 

40 

6    . 

omnia:  |  fme 

tember,  1694 

41 

.  II    . 

duodecimi 

89 

.    8    . 

Theater 

41 

.  23    . 

Odysses 

94 

.  18    . 

Charles 

41 

.  24    . 

Mihi  q**  viuo 

121 

.  28   . 

1759 

41 

•  34    . 

end,  in  some  copies, 

126 

•    4    . 

By| 

45 

I    . 

are  found 

128 

.    6    . 

A.  M'Lean 

45 

.    8    . 

1585 

147 

.    6    . 

Intitled 

48 

.  18    . 

Mafques 

INDEX  TO 
AUTHORS   AND   TITLES 


INDEX  TO   AUTHORS   AND   TITLES 


Absalom  And  Achitophel,  84,  85 

Adam  Bede,  211,  212 

Addison  (Joseph).     The  Spectator, 
94-96 

Adonais,  169,  170 

Analogy  (The)  Of  Religion,  104 

Anatomy  (The)  Of  Melancholy,  51,  52 

Apologia  Pro  Vita  Sua,  217 

Arcadia.     The  Countesse  Of  Pem- 
broke s,  29-31 

Arnold  (Matthew).     Essays  In  Criti- 
cism, 218 

Austen  (Jane).     Pride  And  Prejudice, 
161,  162 

B.  (E.  B.)  Sonnets,  193 

Bacon  (Francis),  Baron  Verulam.     Es- 
saies,  34,  35 

Baldwin  (William),  Thomas  Sackville, 
and  Others.     A  Myrrour  For  Magif- 
trates,  19-21 

Beaumont  (Francis)  and  John  Fletcher. 
Comedies  And  Tragedies,  69-71 

Bell  (Currer).     Jane  Eyre.     An  Auto- 
biography.    Edited  by,  191 

Bible.     The  Holy,  44-47 

Biglow  Papers  (The),  194,  195 

Blackstone  (Sir  William).     Commenta- 
ries, 121,  122 

Booke  (The)  of  the  common  praier, 
9-1 1 

Boswell  (James).     The  Life  Of  Samuel 
Johnson,  150-152 

Braybrooke  (Richard,  Lord).     See 
Pepys  (Samuel).     Memoirs,  173,  174 

Broken  Heart  (The),  58 

Bronte  (Charlotte).     Jane  Eyre,  191 


Browne  (Sir  Thomas).     Religio  Me- 
dici, 65,  66 

Browning  (Elizabeth  Barrett).     Son- 
nets, 193 

Browning  (Robert).     Men  and  Women, 
208 

Bunyan  (John).     The  Pilgrims  Prog- 
refs,  82,  83 

Burke  (Edmund).     Reflections  On  The 
Revolution  In  France,  146 

Bums  (Robert).     Poems,  141,  142 

Burton  (Robert).     The  Anatomy  Of 
Melancholy,  51,  52 

Butler  (Joseph),  Bishop  of  Durham. 
The  Analogy  Of  Religion,  104 

Butler  (Samuel).     Hudibras,  77,  78 

Byron  (George  Gordon),  Sixth  Baron. 
Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage,  157-160 

Canterbury  Tales  (The),  3,  4 
Carlyle  (Thomas).     Sartor  Resartus, 

183-185. 
Chapman  (George).    The  Whole  Works 

Of  Homer,  40-43. 
Chaucer  (Geoffrey).     The  Canterbury 

Tales,  3,  4 
Childe  Harold's  Pilgrinjage,  157-160 
Christabel:   Kubla  Khan  .   .   .  The 

Pains  Of  Sleep,  163,  164 
Chronicles  of  England,  Scotlande,  and 

Irelande,  15-18 
Clarendon  (Edward  Hyde,  First  Earl 

of).     The  History  Of  The  Rebellion, 

89,  90 
Clarissa,  no,  in 

Coleridge  (Samuel  Taylor).     Christa- 
bel, 163,  164 


223 


224 


INDEX 


Coleridge  (Samuel  Taylor)  and  "William 
Wordsworth.     Lyrical  Ballads,  153, 

154 
Collins  (William).     Odes,  109 
Comedies  And  Tragedies,  69-71 
Comedies,  Histories,  &  Tragedies,  53- 

55 
Commentaries  On  The  Laws  Of  Eng- 
land, 121,  122 
Common  praier.  The  booke  of  the,  9-1 1 
Compleat  Angler  (The),  75,  76 
Confeflio  amantis,  5,  6 
Congreve  (William).     The  Way  of  the 

World,  88 
Conquest  Of  Peru.     History  Of  The, 

187,  188 
Cooper  (James  Fenimore).     The  Last 

Of  The  Mohicans,  175,  176 
Countesse  Of  Pembrokes  Arcadia  (The), 

29-31 
Cowper  (William).    The  Task,  137-140 
Cross  (Mary  Ann  or  Marian).     Adam 

Bede  Edited  By  George  Eliot,  211,212 

D.  (J.).     Poems  by,  62-64 

Darwin  (Charles  Robert).     On  The  Ori- 
gin Of  Species,  213-215 

Decline  And  Fall  Of  The  Roman  Em- 
pire.    The  History  Of  The,  I33-I35 

Defoe  (Daniel).  The  Life  And  Strange 
Surprizing  Adventures  Of  Robinson 
Crusoe,  97,  98 

Democritus  Junior.     See  Burton  (Rob- 
ert). 

Dickens  (Charles).  The  Posthumous 
Papers  Of  The  Pickwick  Club,  180- 
182 

Dictionary  (A)  Of  The  English  Lan- 
guage, 117,  118 

Donne  (John).     Poems,  62-64 

Dorset  (Thomas  Sackville,  First  Earl 
of).     5"^^  Thomas  Sackville 

Dryden  (John).  Absalom  And  Achi- 
tophel,  84,  85 

Dutch  Republic.     The  Rise  Of  The, 
209,  210 


Dutchesse  of  Malfy.     The  Tragedy  Of 
The,  56 

Elegy  (An)  Wrote  In  A  Country  Church 
Yard,  114-116 

Elia.  Essays  Which  Have  Appeared 
Under  That  Signature,  171,  172 

Emerson  (Ralph  Waldo).     Nature,  186 

Essaies,  Religious  Meditationes,  34,  35 

Essay  (An)  Concerning  Humane  Un- 
derstanding, 86,  87 

Essay  (An)  On  Man,  102,  103 

Essays  In  Criticism,  218 

Euphues,  26-28 

Evangeline,  192 

Eve  Of  St.  Agnes  (The).     Lamia,  Isa- 
bella, 167,  168 

Expedition  (The)  Of  Humphry  Clinker, 
130.  131 

Faerie  Queene  (The),  32,  33 

Famous  Tragedy  (The)  Of  The  Rich 
lew  Of  Malta,  59 

Federalist  (The),  128,  129 

Ferrex  and  Porrex.  The  Tragidie  of, 
24,  25 

Fielding  (Henry).  The  History  Of 
Tom  Jones,  112,  113 

Fitzgerald  (Edward).  Rubdiydt  Of 
Omar  Khayydm,  216 

Fletcher  (John)  and  Francis  Beaumont. 
Comedies  And  Tragedies,  69-71 

Ford  (John).     The  Broken  Heart,  58 

Franklin  (Benjamin).  Poor  Richard 
improved,  119,  120 

George  Eliot.     Adam  Bede,  211,  212 

Gibbon  (Edward).  The  History  Of 
The  Decline  And  Fall  Of  The  Ro- 
man Empire,  133-135 

Goldsmith  (Oliver).  The  Vicar  Of 
Wakefield,  123-125 

Gower  (John).     Confeffio  amantis,  5,  6 

Gray  (Thomas).  An  Elegy  Wrote  In 
A  Country  Church  Yard,  114-116 

Gulliver  (Lemuel).  Travels  Into  Sev- 
eral Remote  Nations     .  .  By,  99-101 


INDEX 


225 


Hakluyt  (Richard).     The  Principal 

Navigations,  etc.,  36-39 
Hawthorne  (Nathaniel).     The  Scarlet 

Letter,  202,  203 
Herbert  (George).     The  Temple,  60, 

61 
Herrick  (Robert).     Hesperides,  72,  73 
Hesperides,  72,  73 
History  (The)  of  England,  199,  200 
History  (A)  Of  New  York  ...   By 

Diedrich  Knickerbocker,  155,  156 
History  Of  The  Conquest  Of  Peru,  187, 

188 
History  (The)  Of  The  Decline  And  Fall 

Of  The  Roman  Empire,  133-135 
History  (The)  Of  The  Rebellion,  89, 

90 
History  (The)  Of  Tom  Jones,  112,  113 
Holinshed  (Raphael).     Chronicles, 

15-18 
Holy  Bible  (The),  44-47 
Holy  Living.    The  Rule  And  Exercises 

Of,  74 
Homer.     The  Whole  Works  Of, 

40-43 
Howard  (Henry),  Earl  of  Surrey,  and 

Others.     Songes  And  Sonnettes, 

22,  23 
Hudibras,  77,  78 
Humane  Understanding.     An  Essay 

Concerning,  86,  87 
Humphry  Clinker.    The  Expedition  Of, 

130.  131 
Hyde  (Edward),  First  Earl  of  Claren- 
don.   The  History  Of  The  Rebellion, 
89,  90 

In  Memoriam,  201 

Inquiry  (An)  Into  The  Nature  and 

Caufes  Of  The  Wealth  Of  Nations, 

132 
Irving  (Washington).     A  History  of 

New  York,  155,  156 
Isabella,  The  Eve  Of  St.  Agnes.   Lamia, 

167,  168 
Ivanhoe,  165,  166 


Jane  Eyre.   An  Autobiography.    Edited 

By  Currer  Bell,  191 
Johnson  (Samuel).     A  Dictionary  Of 

The  English  Language,  117,  118 
Johnson,  The  Life  of  Samuel,  150-152 
Jonson  (Benjamin).     The  Workes, 

48-50 

Keats  (John).     Lamia,  Isabella,  The 
Eve  Of  St.  Agnes,  167,  168 

Knickerbocker  (Diedrich).     A  History 
Of  New  York  .   .  .  By,  155,  156 

Kubla  Khan,  A  Vision ;  The  Pains  Of 
Sleep.     Christabel,  163,  164 

Lamb  (Charles).     Elia,  171,  172 
Lamia,  Isabella,  The  Eve  Of  St.  Agnes, 

167,  168 
Landor  (Walter  Savage).    Pericles  And 

Aspasia,  177-179 
Langland  (William).     The  Vision  of 

Pierce  Plowman,  12-14 
Last  Of  The  Mohicans  (The),  175,  176 
Life  (The)  And  Strange  Surprizing  Ad- 
ventures  Of   Robinson   Crusoe,    97, 

98 
Life  (The)  Of  Samuel  Johnson,  150-152 
Locke  (John).     An  Essay  Concerning 

Humane  Understanding,  86,  87 
Longfellow  (Henry  Wads  worth). 

Evangeline,  192 
Lowell  Qames  Russell).     The  Biglow 

Papers,  194,  195 
Lucubrations  (The)  Of  Isaac  Bicker- 

flaff  Efq.,  91-93 
Lyly  (John).     Euphues,  26-28 
Lyrical  Ballads,  With  A  Few  Other 

Poems,  153,  154 

Macaulay  (Thomas  Babington),  First 

Baron  Macaulay,  The  History  Of 

England,  199,  200 
Malf  y.     The  Tragedy  Of  The  Dutchesse 

Of,  56 
Malory  (Sir  Thomas).     Le  Morte 

Darthur,  7,  8 


226 


INDEX 


Marlowe  (Christopher).     The  Famous 
Tragedy  Of  The  Rich  lew  Of  Malta, 

59 
Massinger  (John).     A  New  Way  To 

Pay  Old  Debts,  57 
Meliboeus-Hipponax.     The  Biglow 

Papers,  Edited  ...   By  Homer 

Wilbur,  194,  195 
Memoirs  Of  Samuel  Pepys,  Esq. 

F.R.S.,  173.  174 
Men  And  Women,  208 
Milton  (John).     Paradife  lofl,  79-81 
Morte  Darthur.    (Le),  7,  8 
Motley  (John  Lothrop).     The  Rise  Of 

The  Dutch  Republic,  209,  210 
Myrrour  For  Magiflrates  (A),  19-21 

Natural  History  (The)  And  Antiquities 
Of  Selborne,  143-145 

Nature,  186 

New  Way  (A)  To  Pay  Old  Debts,  57 

Newman  (John  Henry)  Cardinal.    Apo- 
logia Pro  Vita  Sua,  217 

Norton  (Thomas)  and  Thomas  Sack- 
ville.  The  Tragidie  of  Ferrex  and 
Porrex,  24,  25 

Odes  On  Several  Defcriptive  and  Alle- 
goric Subjects,  109 
Omar  Khayyim.      Rubdiyat  Of,  216 
On  The  Origin  Of  Species,  213-215 

Paine  (Thomas). Rights  Of  Man,  147- 

149 
Pains  Of  Sleep.     Christabel :   Kubla 

Khan  .  .   .   163,  164 
Paradife  loft,  79-81 
Pepys  (Samuel).     Memoirs,  173,  174 
Percy  (Thomas),  Bishop  of  Dromore. 
Reliques  Of  Ancient  English  Poetry, 
105-108 
Pericles  And  Aspasia,  177-179 
Pickwick  Club.     The  Posthumous  Pa- 
pers Of  The,  180-182 
Pierce  Plowman.     The  Vision  of,  12-14 
Pilgrims  Progrefs  (The),  82,  83 


Poe  (Edgar  Allan).  The  Raven,  189, 190 

Poems,  By  J.  D.,  62-64 

Poems,  Chiefly  In  The  Scottish  Dialect, 

141,  142 
Poor  Richard  improved,  119,  120 
Pope  (Alexander).     An  Essay  On  Man, 

102,  103 
Posthumous  Papers  (The)  Of  The 

Pickwick  Club,  180-182 
Prescott  (William  Hinckling).     His- 
tory Of  The  Conquest  of  Peru,  187, 

188 
Pride  And  Prejudice,  161,  162 
Principal  Navigations,  (The)  Voiages, 

Trafiiques  And  Discoueries  of  the 

Englifh  Nation,  36-39 

Raven  (The)  And  Other  Poems,  189, 190 
Reflections  On  The  Revolution  In 

France,  146 
Religio  Medici,  65,  66 
Reliques  Of  Ancient  English  Poetry, 

105-108 
Revolution  In  France.      Reflections  On 

The,  146 
Richardson  (Samuel).     Clarissa,  110, 

III 
Rich  lew  Of  Malta.     The  Famous 

Tragedy  Of  The,  59 
Rights  Of  Man,  147-149 
Rise  Of  The  Dutch  Republic,  209,  210 
Robinson  Crusoe.     The  Life  And 

Strange  Surprising  Adventures  Of, 

97,  98 
Rubiiydt  of  Omar  Khayyim,  216 
Rule  And  Exercises  Of  Holy  Living,  74 
Ruskin  (John).     The  Stones  of  Venice, 

205-207 

Sackville  (Thomas),  First  Earl  of  Dor- 
set, and  Thomas  Norton.    The  Tra- 
gidie of  Ferrex  and  Porrex,  24,  25 

Sackville  (Thomas),  First  Earl  of  Dor- 
set, William  Baldwin  and  others.  A 
Myrrour  For  Magiflrates,  19-21 

Sartor  Resartus,  183-185 


INDEX 


227 


Scarlet  Letter  (The),  202,  203 

School  (The)  For  Scandal,  136 

Scott  (Sir  Walter).     Ivanhoe,  165,  166 

Selbome.     The  Natural  History  And 
Antiquities  Of,  143-145 

Sentimental  Journey  (A),  126,  127 

Shakespeare  (William).    Comedies,  His- 
tories, &  Tragedies,  53-55 

Shelley  (Percy  Bysshe).    Adonais,  169, 
170 

Sheridan  (Richard  Brinsley).     The 
School  For  Scandal,  136 

Sidney  (Sir  Philip).     The  Countesse 
Of  Pembrokes  Arcadia,  29-31 

Smith  (Adam).     An  Inquiry  Into  The 
Nature  and  Caufes  Of  The  Wealth  Of 
Nations,  132 

Smollett  (Tobias  George).     The  Expe- 
dition Of  Humphry  Clinker,  130,  131 

Snow-Bound,  219,  220 

Songes  And  Sonnettes,  22,  23 

Sonnets.     By  E.  B.  B.,  193 

Spectator  (The),  94-96 

Spenser  (Edmund).     The  Faerie 
Queene,  32,  33 

Steele  (Sir  Richard).     The  Tatler,  91- 

93 
Sterne  (Laurence).    A  Sentimental 

Journey,  126,  127 
Stones  of  Venice  (The),  205-207 
Stowe  (Harriet  Beecher).    Uncle  Tom's 

Cabin,  204 
Surrey  (Henry  Howard),  Earl  of. 

Songes  And  Sonnettes,  22,  23 
Swift  (Jonathan).    Travels  Into  Several 

Remote  Nations  ...   By  Lemuel 

Gulliver,  99-101 

Task  (The),  137-140 
Tatler  (The),  91-93 


Taylor  (Jeremy).     The  Rule  And  Exer- 
cises Of  Holy  Living,  74 

Temple  (The),  60,  61 

Tennyson  (Alfred),  First  Baron  Tenny- 
son.    In  Memoriam,  201 

Thackeray  (William  Makepeace).   Van- 
ity Fair,  196-198 

Tom  Jones.     The  History  Of,  112,  113 

Tragedy  (The)  Of  The  Dutchesse  Of 
Malfy,  56 

Tragedy  of  The  Rich  lew  Of  Malta. 
The  Famous,  59 

Tragidie  (The)  of  Ferrex  and  Porrex, 
24.  25 

Travels  Into  Several  Remote  Nations 
...   By  Lemuel  Gulliver,  99-101 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  204 

Vanity  Fair,  196-198 

Vicar  Of  Wakefield  (The),  123-125 

Vision  (The)  of  Pierce  Plowman,  12-14 

Waller  (Edmond).  The  Workes,  67,  68 
Walton  (Izaak).    The  Compleat  Angler, 

75.  76 
Way  of  the  World  (The),  88 
Wealth  Of  Nations.     An  Inquiry  Into 

The  Nature  and  Caufes  Of  The,  132 
Webster  (John).     The  Tragedy  Of  The 

Dutchesse  Of  Malfy,  56 
White  (Gilbert).     The  Natural  History 

And  Antiquities  Of  Selbome,  143-145 
Whittier  (John  Greenleaf).     Snow- 
Bound,  219,  220 
Wilbur  (Homer)  .   .   .   The  Biglow 

Papers,  Edited  .   .  .  by,  194  195 
Wordsworth  (William)  and  Samuel 

Taylor  Coleridge.     Lyrical  Ballads, 

153.  154- 


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